Distribution of cerebral blood flow in the caudate nucleus, lentiform nucleus and thalamus in patients with carotid artery stenosis

Nolan S. Hartkamp, Reinoud P. H. Bokkers, H. Bart van der Worp, M. J. P. van Osch, L. Jaap Kappelle, Jeroen Hendrikse
2010 European Radiology  
Objective To investigate the influence of internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis on the distribution of blood flow to the caudate nucleus, lentiform nucleus, and thalamus. Methods We studied 18 healthy control subjects, 20 patients with a unilateral asymptomatic ICA stenosis, and 15 patients with a recently symptomatic unilateral ICA stenosis. The contribution of the ICAs and the basilar artery to the perfusion of the deep brain structures was assessed by perfusion territory selective arterial
more » ... pin labeling (ASL) MRI. Differences were tested with a two-tailed Fishers' exact test. Results The caudate nucleus was predominantly supplied with blood by the ipsilateral ICA in all groups. In 4 of the 15 (27%) the symptomatic patients, the caudate nucleus partially received blood from the contralateral ICA, compared to none of the 18 healthy control subjects (p= 0.03). The lentiform nucleus and the thalamus were predominantly supplied with blood by the ipsilateral ICA and basilar artery respectively in all groups. Conclusion In patients with a symptomatic ICA stenosis, the caudate nucleus may be supplied with blood by the contralateral ICA more often than in healthy controls.
doi:10.1007/s00330-010-1952-y pmid:20853001 pmcid:PMC3047207 fatcat:vqol37m4g5acvjkmeefn6i2qla