Cervical blood flow velocity values in patients with unilateral intracranial aneurysm: Preliminary results

Aim: Brain aneurysm is a balloon shaped dilatation of brain vessels as a result of attenuation of the vessel walls. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between blood flow velocities in the right and left arterial vessels in an unruptured aneurysm and healthy group, and to investigate whether this analysis can help early diagnosis of aneurysm.Methods: Four aneurysm patients (four female, mean age 57.25 ± 0.75 years) and four healthy subjects (two female, 2 male male, mean age 36.35 ± 6.19 years) were included in the study. Blood flow velocity values ​​of right and left internal carotid arteries, vertebral artery and right and left internal jugular veins were obtained during a cardiac cycle with phase contrast technique. Spearman's correlation analysis was applied to flow velocity values. Statistically significant blood flow similarities between right and left brain were investigated.Results: In the aneurysm group, there was a significant difference between right and left cervical arterial blood flow velocity values (p=0.001). Spearman correlation coefficient values between right and left arterial blood flow velocity values and right and left side arteriovenous blood flow velocity values were lower in the aneurysm group compared to the control group however, there was no statistical significance (p≥0.05 for all). Conclusion: The difference between the right and left arterial blood flow velocities obtained in the aneurysm group and the low correlation values may be useful in early diagnosis of aneurysm