Transcranial Doppler and cortical microcirculation at increased intracranial pressure and during the Cushing response: an experimental study on rabbits

The effect of increased intracranial pressure on the flow velocity of the basilar artery was measured with transcranial ultrasonic Doppler in New Zealand White rabbits under alpha-chloralose anesthesia and artificial respiration. Laser Doppler flowmetry served to study changes of the cortical microcirculation. The results confirm a high inverse correlation of the diastolic flow velocity, the pulsatility index, and the resistance index with the cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). During acute intracranial hypertension, however, these parameters do not show a good correlation with the local cortical blood flow. The absence of a correlation was evident over a wide CPP range down to values of 35 mm Hg. Only at CPP values below this critical threshold is the microcirculation impaired. The threshold is reached at pulsatility index values of more than 2.0 and at resistance index values of more than 0.8. Therefore, transcranial Doppler indices permit the detection of critical reductions of microcirculatory blood flow. The Cushing reaction occurred with a constant time lag of 5.5 +/- 0.7 seconds after the loss of CPP. The Cushing reaction did not establish systolic blood flow, which remained below the functional threshold, as concluded from the temporary loss of somatosensory evoked potentials.