Transcranial Doppler sonography enables noninvasive monitoring of raised intracranial pressure in patients with large infarctions. It also provides information for detecting cerebral herniation and deciding on the medical or surgical therapy.

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Objective. In patients with large artery disease, determining the cerebral hemodynamic state and following its alterations may be a good marker for predicting long-term outcome. The aim of our study was to compare the changes in vasomotor reactivity (VMR) of patients with symptomatic intracranial and extracranial artery stenosis. We also examined whether VMR after stroke influences the long-term prognosis for these patients. Methods. Forty-one patients were included in the study. To determine the cerebral hemodynamic state, transcranial Doppler ultrasound examinations and acetazolamide tests were performed after acute stroke and repeated after 6 months. We compared the VMR on admission and at 6 months, together with changes in VMR, of the patients with symptomatic intracranial and extracranial artery stenosis. By calculating the Barthel index at 6 months, we examined whether VMR had an effect on an improvement in their quality of life. Results. We observed a significantly higher initial VMR of the ipsilateral hemisphere in patients with intracranial stenosis (22.4 ± 9.1 versus 13.4 ± 12.8; P = .013). At 6 months, the VMR obtained from the ipsilateral hemisphere was better in patients with extracranial stenosis than in the patients with intracranial stenosis (P = .01). The ipsilateral VMR measured on admission showed a positive correlation with the Barthel index at 6 months (P = .007; r = 0.434). Conclusions. Our study showed that VMR in patients with acute stroke who have extracranial and intracranial artery stenosis measured by using a transcranial Doppler examination may have value in predicting long-term outcome. Key words: large artery atherothrombosis; transcranial Doppler examination; vasomotor reactivity. erebral insufficiency is associated with the presence of severe stenotic disease of the carotid arteries. 1 The risk of carotid artery stenosis increases with age. It has been reported that of the population older than 75 years, 7% of the women and 9% of the men had internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis of more than 50%; however, of the population younger than 50 years, only 1% had ICA stenosis of more than 50%.2 Intracranial stenosis represents approximately 8% to 12% of all ischemic strokes. 3Vasomotor reactivity (VMR) is used to evaluate cerebral perfusion reserve. Vasomotor reactivity is the capacity of cerebral circulation to respond to vasomotor stimuli and shows the vasodilatator capacity of cerebral arterioles.

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