Background: To evaluate the effect of mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) on cerebral perfusion during carotid surgery, we investigated blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral (Vs,mca) using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD).
Methods: During carotid crossclamping, treatment included either phenylephrine-induced hypertension without shunting (Group XC; n = 11) or insertion of a shunt (Group S; n = 12).
Results: Increasing MAP in Group XC before crossclamping (81 + /-13 mmHg to 107 +/- 12 mmHg) caused an increase of Vs,mca (59 +/- 17 cm/s to 75 +/- 20 cm/s; p < 0.001). During crossclamping without a shunt, Vs,mca was not dependent on MAP, and was reduced (mean 47 +/- 24 cm/s) in relation to preclamp values. In Group S, Vs,mca was always dependent on MAP and the preclamp velocity was maintained (before shunt: 75 +/- 26 cm/sec; during shunt: 79 +/- 30 cm/sec).
Conclusions: Although we found an impaired cerebral autoregulation, Vs,mca was independent of MAP during carotid crossclamping. Thus, TCD measurements have to be interpreted with caution during crossclamping, and the effect of induced hypertension has to be confirmed with more invasive measures of cerebral blood flow.