Evaluation of vascular ultrasound,transcranial Doppler and computed tomography angiography to vertebrobasilar artery in patients with posterior circulation ischemia

Objective To explore the clinical valuation of vascular ultrasound,transcranial Doppler ultrasound(TCD) and computer tomography angiography(CTA) in the diagnosis of vertebrobasilar abnormalities. Methods A total 156 patients with posterior circulation ischemia(PCI) were examined by digital subtraction angiography(DSA),vascular ultrasound,TCD,and CTA within one week in hospitalization.All inspections were involved in retrospective analysis,and the accuracies of vascular ultrasound or TCD or CTA were evaluated systematically by DSA. Results DSA as the gold standard,the accuracy of vascular ultrasound was 68.4% in diagnosis of extracranial vertebrobasilar abnormalities,that of TCD was 76.3% in intracranial vertebrobasilar abnormalities,and that of CTA was 88.9% in extracranial and intracranial vertebrobasilar abnormalities. Conclusion Vascular ultrasound or TCD or CTA can serve as initial screening tool in diagnosis of vertebrobasilar abnormalities,but DSA is still the gold standard in the diagnosis,and DSA could find the compensation of the cerebral vessels.