© 2004 by European Society of Cardiology
REVIEW
Transcranial Doppler monitoring during head upright tilt table testing in patients with suspected neurocardiogenic syncope
aCardiovascular Institute of Buenos Aires (ICBA) Blanco Encalada 1543, (1428) Buenos Aires, Argentina; bInstitute for Neurological Research (FLENI) Buenos Aires, Argentina
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the mechanism of cerebrovascular autoregulation in patients with neurocardiogenic syncope using bilateral transcranial Doppler (TCD) monitoring during head upright tilt table testing (HUT). Two hundred and six patients were prospectively studied. One hundred and fifty-nine subjects (77%) had a prior history of syncope and 47 (23%) had presyncope. Ninety-nine patients (48%) had syncope or presyncope during HUT with a 76% fall in diastolic middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (D-MCA-BFV). Systolic MCA-BFV (S-MCA-BFV) fell by 33%. Deepening of the dicrotic notch in the Doppler waveform always preceded the fall in D-MCA-BFV. Patients without syncope or presyncope (n=96) had smaller changes in cerebral blood flow velocities during HUT and only twenty-two subjects had transient deepening of the dicrotic notch. Eleven subjects had presyncope during HUT due to an exaggerated response to nitrates with progressive arterial hypotension without bradycardia and changes during TCD monitoring that were intermediate between positive and negative HUT.
In conclusion, patients with neurocardiogenic syncope have changes in cerebral blood flow during the event. TCD monitoring during HUT helps to assess these alterations.
Key Words: syncope, head upright tilt table test, transcranial Doppler
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +54-4787-7500; fax: +54-577-3209. E-mail address: albinag{at}netverk.com.ar (G. Albina).
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