[Balloon occlusion test before carotid ligature (author's transl)].

The risk of ligating one carotid artery was tested by balloon occlusion of that vessel for a period of 30 to 60 minutes, during which time contralateral carotid angiography was carried out as well as an EEG and xenon-133 blood flow measurements. The procedure was carried out on seven patients, two showed a reduction in cerebral blood flow without EEG changes. In one patient the contralateral circulation could not be demonstrated by angiography. Carotid ligation was carried out in 5 of 7 patients. Neurological complications were not observed.