open access

Vol 10, No 1 (2007)
Review paper
Submitted: 2012-01-23
Published online: 2007-02-15
Get Citation

Cerebral hemodynamics and investigations of cerebral blood flow regulation

Wojciech Rudziński, Maciej Swiat, Maciej Tomaszewski, Jaroslaw Krejza
Nucl. Med. Rev 2007;10(1):29-42.

open access

Vol 10, No 1 (2007)
Reviews
Submitted: 2012-01-23
Published online: 2007-02-15

Abstract

To maintain adequate cerebral blood flow despite frequent changes in systemic arterial blood pressure and to constantly adjust blood supply to the current metabolic demand dictated by neuronal electrical activity, brain developed a myriad of mechanisms. These are designed to protect central nervous system from fatal consequences of hypoxia and energy deficit and are collectively called “cerebral autoregulation”. Despite years of research mechanisms responsible for regulation of CBF functioning under physiologic and pathologic conditions are still not clear. When these mechanisms are damaged or exhausted, patients life is in danger, as even slight, negligible under normal conditions, systemic hemodynamic disturbances might lead to cerebral infarct. Even perfect imaging of the irreversible brain damage with MR for the particular patient is too late action. Thus, detection of cerebral blood flow disturbances and impaired autoregulation, which are known to be associated with high risk of stroke, are extremely important in clinical practice. Several methods have been developed to quantify this process and thus evaluate risk of cerebral ischemia and guide therapeutic process. This review focuses on current knowledge on physiology of regulation of cerebral blood flow, mechanisms responsible for brain damage resulted from cerebral ischemia and reviews noninvasive diagnostic tests to assess cerebral autoregulation.

Abstract

To maintain adequate cerebral blood flow despite frequent changes in systemic arterial blood pressure and to constantly adjust blood supply to the current metabolic demand dictated by neuronal electrical activity, brain developed a myriad of mechanisms. These are designed to protect central nervous system from fatal consequences of hypoxia and energy deficit and are collectively called “cerebral autoregulation”. Despite years of research mechanisms responsible for regulation of CBF functioning under physiologic and pathologic conditions are still not clear. When these mechanisms are damaged or exhausted, patients life is in danger, as even slight, negligible under normal conditions, systemic hemodynamic disturbances might lead to cerebral infarct. Even perfect imaging of the irreversible brain damage with MR for the particular patient is too late action. Thus, detection of cerebral blood flow disturbances and impaired autoregulation, which are known to be associated with high risk of stroke, are extremely important in clinical practice. Several methods have been developed to quantify this process and thus evaluate risk of cerebral ischemia and guide therapeutic process. This review focuses on current knowledge on physiology of regulation of cerebral blood flow, mechanisms responsible for brain damage resulted from cerebral ischemia and reviews noninvasive diagnostic tests to assess cerebral autoregulation.
Get Citation

Keywords

brain; cerebral circulation; cerebrovascular reactivity; autoregulation; hemodynamics

About this article
Title

Cerebral hemodynamics and investigations of cerebral blood flow regulation

Journal

Nuclear Medicine Review

Issue

Vol 10, No 1 (2007)

Article type

Review paper

Pages

29-42

Published online

2007-02-15

Page views

717

Article views/downloads

2326

Bibliographic record

Nucl. Med. Rev 2007;10(1):29-42.

Keywords

brain
cerebral circulation
cerebrovascular reactivity
autoregulation
hemodynamics

Authors

Wojciech Rudziński
Maciej Swiat
Maciej Tomaszewski
Jaroslaw Krejza

Regulations

Important: This website uses cookies. More >>

The cookies allow us to identify your computer and find out details about your last visit. They remembering whether you've visited the site before, so that you remain logged in - or to help us work out how many new website visitors we get each month. Most internet browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can change the settings of your browser to erase cookies or prevent automatic acceptance if you prefer.

By VM Media Group sp. z o.o., Świętokrzyska 73 street, 80–180 Gdańsk, Poland

phone: +48 58 320 94 94, fax: +48 58 320 94 60, e-mail: viamedica@viamedica.pl