Associations Between Doppler Internal Jugular Vein Blood Flow and Transverse Sinus Stasis Detected by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• DOI: 10.1002/jum.15541
• Publication Date: 2020-10-21T18:25:39Z
• Authors: Zeki İlhan; Saim Açıkgözoğlu; Orhan Demir
• Keywords: Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Adolescent; Transverse Sinuses; Ultrasonography, Doppler; Middle Aged; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Humans; Jugular Veins; Aged; Ultrasonography

ObjectivesThis study aimed to compare the estimated internal jugular vein (IJV) volume flow with Doppler ultrasound in patients with slow flow in the transverse sinuses and normal transverse sinuses on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).MethodsEighty patients between the ages of 18 and 80 years who did not have any signs of sinus vein thrombosis on brain MRI were included. On MRI, cases with hyperintensity due to a signal void loss in the transverse sinuses in coronal fluid attenuation inversion recovery sequences were included in the slow‐flow group. The presence of sinus thrombosis was excluded with other MRI pulse sequences and clinical findings. The participants were divided into 2 groups as having normal and slow flow according to MRI findings. Then bilateral IJV volume flow measurements were made by Doppler ultrasound. Bilateral volume flow was estimated by time‐averaged blood flow velocities sampled in the center of the IJV, and IJV cross‐sectional areas were measured. We defined the dominant IJV as the one having the higher estimated volume flow of the 2 sides.ResultsTotal estimated IJV blood flow was lower (P < .001) in patients with slow flow on MRI (546 mL/min) compared to those without (768 mL/min). A similar finding was seen for the nondominant IJV. In a receiver operating characteristic analysis, the cutoff value for the total estimated IJV volume flow was determined to be 590 mL/min, and the cutoff value for nondominant estimated IJV volume flow was determined to be 202 mL/min to distinguish between the groups.ConclusionsLow estimated volume blood flow in the IJV is associated with MRI evidence of stasis in the ipsilateral transverse sinus.