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Cerebral ischemic events associated with arteriography are usually attributed to catheter-induced emboli. We present three patients with cerebral ischemia occurring 6 to 48 hours post-arteriography. We suspected that alternate pathogenic mechanisms were in effect. To evaluate the possibility that sustained platelet activation occurs in association with arteriography, we measured the platelet-specific protein beta thromboglobulin (BTG) prior to and 24 hours following arteriography in two groups of patients. Group I had arteriography performed shortly after venipuncture, while Group II patients did not have arteriography between samples. Seven of eight Group I patients had an increase of BTG on day two, compared with two of eight group II patients (p less than 05). When compared to Group II changes, Group I had a significant increase of BTG on day two (p less than .05). We conclude that cerebral ischemic events associated with arteriography may occur on a delayed basis, and that platelet activation, manifested by increased BTG levels, may be one mechanism contributing to this phenomenon.

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