Colour flow imaging of the great intracranial arteries in infants.

Colour flow imaging was used for the visualization of the great intracranial arteries in 100 healthy infants. All children were investigated by computersonography with a 5 MHz linear transducer. Simultaneous imaging of brain tissue, displayed in gray scale and flow, displayed in colour was possible. Flow towards the transducer was displayed in red, flow away from the transducer in blud. The following arteries could be shown in sagittal and coronal sections: anterior cerebral artery, both internal carotid arteries, the basilar artery, both vertebral arteries and the posterior cerebral arteries. The middle cerebral artery could only be shown in axial sections through the temporal bone. With the help of colour flow imaging the exact course of the great intracranial arteries can be shown. Precise placement of the sample volume as well as angle correction is possible when absolute flow velocities are measured by pulsed dopplersonography. Congenital vascular abnormalities can be visualised within the image.