Transcranial Doppler ultrasound analysis of resistive index in rostral and caudal cerebral arteries in dogs.

Transcranial Doppler (TCD) was carried out to determine the resistive index (RI) values of normal canine cerebral arteries and its reproducibility and to evaluate the change of cerebral vascular resistance following diuretics administration. RI values of rostral cerebral artery (RCA) were compared between fontanelle window and temporal window. Normal ranges and reproducibility of the RI values were examined in the rostal cerebral artery (RCA) and caudal cerebral artery (CCA). And after administration of diuretics, TCD-derived RI values were measured at RCA and CCA. Cerebral vascular RI values of RCA and CCA were 0.55 +/- 0.05 and 0.55 +/- 0.03 in the normal dogs, respectively. There was no significant difference of RI between male and female; between fontanelle window and temporal window. Reproducibility of RI measurements between intraobserver and interobserver were relatively high. The RI of RCA and CCA were significantly increased 15 minutes after mannitol administration (p<0.01) and returned to baseline values by 30 minutes, but it did not significantly change after furosemide and saline administration. The results suggest that TCD is a useful test which can obtain reproducible results from any window and has the advantage of detecting subtle changes in cerebral vascular resistance.