Incidence and effects of increased cerebral blood flow velocity after severe head injury: a transcranial Doppler ultrasound study II. Effect of vasospasm and hyperemia on outcome

Cerebral blood flow velocities were measured in 50 severely head injured (Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) 8 or less) patients using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD). Abnormally high TCD velocities were recorded in 35 patients; in 20 this was deemed to be due to vasospasm and in the other 15 to hyperemia. Patients who developed hyperemia also had the highest intracranial pressure (ICP) and the lowest cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) of the three groups. Outcome was assessed at six months after injury using the Glasgow outcome scale and the disability rating scale. In the normal velocity group 87% of patients had a good outcome, compared with 47% of those with hyperemia and 40% of those with vasospasm. The highest velocity (HVEL), GCS, age, ICP and CPP were entered into a logistic regression analysis. HVEL, age and CPP were found to be the most significant predictors of outcome (χ² = 29.5; p < 0.0001). These factors predicted outcome with 82% accuracy, 86% sensitivity and 76% specificity. Routine monitoring of TCD velocity may be useful in detecting hyperemia and vasospasm after severe head injury, allowing appropriate treatment to be started as early as possible.