PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - F. Gaudiello AU - V. Colangelo AU - F. Bolacchi AU - M. Melis AU - R. Gandini AU - F.G. Garaci AU - V. Cozzolino AU - R. Floris AU - G. Simonetti TI - Sixty-Four-Section CT Cerebral Perfusion Evaluation in Patients with Carotid Artery Stenosis before and after Stenting with a Cerebral Protection Device AID - 10.3174/ajnr.A0945 DP - 2008 May 01 TA - American Journal of Neuroradiology PG - 919--923 VI - 29 IP - 5 4099 - http://www.ajnr.org/content/29/5/919.short 4100 - http://www.ajnr.org/content/29/5/919.full SO - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2008 May 01; 29 AB - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brain tissue viability depends on cerebral blood flow (CBF) that has to be kept within a narrow range to avoid the risk of developing ischemia. The aim of the study was to evaluate by 64-section CT (VCT) the cerebral perfusion modifications in patients with severe carotid stenosis before and after undergoing carotid artery stent placement (CAS) with a cerebral protection system.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients with unilateral internal carotid stenosis (≥70%) underwent brain perfusional VCT (PVCT) 5 days before and 1 week after the stent-placement procedure. CBF and mean transit time (MTT) values were measured.RESULTS: Decreased CBF and increased MTT values were observed in the cerebral areas supplied by the stenotic artery as compared with the areas supplied by the contralateral patent artery (P < .001). A significant normalization of the perfusion parameters was observed after the stent-placement procedure (mean pretreatment MTT value, 5.3 ± 0.2; mean posttreatment MTT value, 4.3 ± 0.18, P < .001; mean pretreatment CBF value, 41.2 mL/s ± 2.1; mean posttreatment CBF value, 47.9 mL/s ± 2.9, P < .001).CONCLUSIONS: PVCT is a useful technique for the assessment of the hemodynamic modifications in patients with severe carotid stenosis. The quantitative evaluation of cerebral perfusion makes it a reliable tool for the follow-up of patients who undergo CAS.