Reversed ophthalmic blood flow in the occlusions (33 patients) and stenoses (11 patients) of the internal carotid artery (ICA) was examined using the ultrasonic Doppler technique. The Doppler shift frequencies of the blood flow signal were analyzed to obtain their sound spectrogram. In stenosis of the ICA, "presystolic notch" was more frequently observed and "d/S" value (S, d; maximum blood flow velocity at systolic and diastolic) was smaller than in occlusion. These two characteristics of stenosis distinguish it from occlusion with 89% accuracy although this method is applicable only for the patients with reversed ophthalmic blood flow.

Blood Flow Velocity↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnostic reliability of the percutaneous ultrasonic Doppler technique for vertebral arterial occlusive diseases.

There is little data on the diagnostic reliability of the ultrasonic Doppler technique for vertebral arterial occlusive lesions. Percutaneous vertebral Doppler examination and the vertebral angiograms were compared to determine the diagnostic reliability of this technique in 64 vertebral arteries of 53 patients with cerebrovascular disease. The percutaneous vertebral Doppler findings were quantitatively analyzed using a sound spectrograph and were classified into three types: no flow signal type, poor flow type and normal flow type. In nine patients with the no flow type the angiograms revealed vertebral occlusion or a missing vertebral artery in six, giving a diagnostic reliability of 67%. In 17 patients with poor flow type the angiograms revealed vertebral occlusion or a missing vertebral artery in five, terminal narrowing of the artery in nine, and hypoplasia in two giving a diagnostic reliability of 94%. For all vertebral arteries examined with this technique, including normal ones, the diagnostic reliability was 92% (59/64). Percutaneous vertebral Doppler examination has clinical usefulness as a screening test for occlusive vertebral arterial diseases.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship between ophthalmic artery blood flow and recanalization of occluded carotid artery. Ultrasonic Doppler study.

Ophthalmic artery blood flow in 5 patients with internal carotid artery occlusion of sudden onset was monitored by an ultrasonic Doppler flowmeter to investigate the possible relationship to spontaneous recanalization of the occluded artery. The occluded internal carotid arteries of 2 patients were confirmed angiographically to recanalize and the reversed flow of their ophthalmic arteries changed to physiological flow after the recanalization. The ophthalmic artery blood flow remained reversed in 2 patients whose occluded internal carotid arteries did not recanalize on the follow up angiograms. In the other patient, whose ophthalmic artery blood flow was not detected by the ultrasonic Doppler flowmeter in the acute stage, physiological flow through the ophthalmic artery was detected later. The occluded internal carotid artery did not recanalize and this physiological ophthalmic artery blood flow was filled through the circle of Willis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A remarkable increase of superoxide dismutase activity in synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Superoxide dismutase activities in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis were determined by the technique of McCord and Fridovich. The superoxide dismutase activity from the rheumatoid arthritis group was found to be remarkably higher than that from the osteoarthritis group. The high superoxide dismutase activity of rheumatoid arthritis is correlated with the severity of the disease. A significant correlation was also found between C-reactive protein and superoxide dismutase activity. These observations suggest that superoxide dismutase activity is a manifestation of the acute inflammatory stage of rheumatoid arthritis.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗