[Pulsed Doppler sonographic determination of normal values of blood flow velocities in the anterior cerebral artery in premature and newborn infants]

Abstract

In 384 healthy prematurely born infants, full-term newborns and older infants (conceptional age: 26 to 60 weeks; weight at investigation: 720 g to 5800 g) the flow in the anterior cerebral arteries was measured by pulsed doppler-sonography. All infants were investigated with a 5 MHz probe (ATL Mark 600 and Acuson 128). The following parameters were measured from the flow profile: The maximal systolic velocity, the end-systolic and end-diastolic velocity as well as the mean flow velocity, the pulsatility-index and the resistance-index. For all parameters the relationship to the conceptional age and weight were analysed. All flow velocities increased with increasing conceptional age: There was an exponential increase of the flow velocities with the conceptional age, whereas the relationship between the weight and the flow velocities was linear. In contrast to this neither the pulsatility-index nor the resistance-index changed with increasing conceptional age and weight. As flow velocities in the anterior cerebral arteries increase with increasing conceptional age and weight both parameters must be taken into consideration when pathologic flow velocities are measured.