engleski

Posttraumatic stress disorder and transcranial doppler sonography

Transcranial doppler (TCD) sonography was used to examine mean blood flow velocity (MBFV) in 50 patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before and six months after succesful psychiatric treatment. Doppler sonography of the circle of Willis blood vessels and vertebrobasilar flow was also performed in a control group of healthy subjects. The subjects from both groups were aged 20-43 years, and were free from other diseases. Vasospasm of the circle of Willis blood vessels was initially detected in 62% of PTSD patients. This decreased to 22% after treatment. In the control group, vasospasm of the circle of Willis blood vessels was found in 8% of subjects. TCD examination of the vertebrobasilar system blood vessels showed no statistically significant difference in MBFV between control subjects and PTSD patients, irrespective of treatment. Study results confirmed the value of TCD in detecting vasospasm in the circle of Willis vessels in PTSD patients, pointing to the role of TCD in the diagnosis of PTSD. The study pointed to the value of TCD in the evaluation of therapeutic succes, because the proportion of PTSD patients with vasospasm of the circle of Willis blood vessels was lower six months after psychiatric treatment with this finding being statistically significant.

Posttraumatic stress disorder; Transcranial doppler sonography; Blood flow; Vasospasm

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