Measurement of cerebral circulation time in man.

A simple, inexpensive method for measuring the cerebral circulation time (CCT) was developed. The CCT was considered to be equal to the time that an intravenously injected bolus of sodium pertechnetate Tc 99m took to go from the subclavian artery to the posterior venous confluence. The dilution curves were externally recorded at these two vessels. Particular attention was given to the curve treatment. The computer programmes were specially conceived in order to detect and, if possible, correct the experimental curve defects. Several reliability criteria were also defined in order to test the validity of each measurement. From a physiological point of view, the CCT is equal to the ratio of the global cerebral blood volume to the global cerebral blood flow. Thus, it can be widely applied in clinical research. For example, in a study of the relationship between CCT and age, sex and light cerebrovascular impairment, the technique was sensitive enough to discriminate between healthy subjects and patients suffering from-transient ischemic attack, or regressive stroke, and to show the action of a drug on the cerebral circulation in such patients.