Measuring cerebral vasoregulation--the possible clinical implications

Cerebral vessels can keep cerebral perfusion more or less constant. This process is called cerebral vasoregulation and can be measured using different neuromonitoring techniques, which will be discussed in this overview. Cerebral perfusion deficits after brain damage caused by a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) or severe traumatic skull and brain injury (TSBI) can be detected early and better understood by using these techniques. In current clinical guidelines on the treatment of CVA, SAB and TSBI, impaired cerebral vasoregulation is often assumed. However, there is a need to measure cerebral vasoregulation status at the individual level, with follow-up over time. Some vasoregulation techniques inform the clinician about subtle local regulation disorders ('snapshot' assessment). Other techniques are suitable for the global long-term monitoring of vasoregulation ('monitoring' assessment) where the results could serve as feedback for treatment interventions. Appropriate use of the techniques in daily clinical practice requires standardisation of the methods available for the monitoring of cerebral vasoregulation. Presently, use is mostly restricted to the research setting.