Influence of contralateral obstructions on Doppler-frequency spectral analysis of ipsilateral stenoses of the carotid arteries.

Abstract

Contralateral obstructions have been suggested to be responsible for inaccuracy in Doppler sonographic diagnosis and estimation of severity of internal carotid artery stenoses. Therefore correlations of the systolic peak frequency of the internal carotid artery (Doppler-Frequency-Spectrum-Analysis) and severity of stenoses found by angiography have been compared in subgroups with (n = 36) and without (n = 48) additional contralateral obstructions. The linear regressions in both subgroups were found to be very similar (Y = 0.0098X - 12.4 and Y = 0.0099X - 14.0), the coefficients of correlation identical (r = 0.83). In 26 patients, the systolic peak frequency of the internal carotid artery did not demonstrate a significant change due to operation of the contralateral vascular lesion; thus indicating that contralateral obstructions do not influence CW-Doppler sonographic findings of an ipsilateral vessel wall lesion concerning diagnostic accuracy and non-invasive estimation of the severity of stenoses.