The Posterior Cerebral Artery and its Main Cortical Branches Identified with Noninvasive Transcranial Color-Coded Duplex Sonography

Abstract

Purpose: To differentiate PCA segments and cortical branches by means of transcranial color-coded duplex sonography (TCCD) and to measure flow parameters at rest and during visual stimulation.

Materials and Methods: 60 healthy subjects with a good acoustic temporal bone window were examined. The main stem of the PCA (P1, P2 and P3) and 4 main cortical branches – the anterior temporal artery (ATA), the occipital temporal artery (OTA), the parietooccipital artery (POA) and the calcarine artery (CA) – were assessed using an axial transtemporal approach. Systolic and diastolic blood flow velocities (BFVs) were recorded at rest and during visual stimulation.

Results: Identification of the P1 segment of the PCA was successful in 97.5% (117/120) of cases. The P2 and P3 segments were visualized in all cases. The 4 main cortical branches could be identified to varying degrees: ATA in 88%, OTA in 96%, POA in 69% and CA in 62%. There was an evoked flow response in the P2 main stem and in all cortical branches. The most pronounced increase in diastolic/systolic BFV after visual stimulation test was seen in the CA (42%/35%), followed by P2 (30%/24%), the POA (27%/27%), the OTA (16%/13%) and the ATA (9%/8%).

Conclusion: Insonation through the temporal bone window with TCCD confidently allows the assessment of the P1 to P3 segments of the PCA as well as the 2 proximal branches, the ATA and the OTA. An ultrasound-based classification of PCA anatomy and its cortical branches may be used as a noninvasive method for the evaluation of posterior circulation pathology.

Key words

brain - blood vessels - ultrasound

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