• A Caccioppola, M Carbonara, M Macrì, L Longhi, S Magnoni, F Ortolano, F Triulzi, E R Zanier, T Zoerle, and N Stocchetti.
• Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda-Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
• Br J Anaesth. 2018 Sep 1; 121 (3): 588-594.

BackgroundNear-infrared spectroscopy, a non-invasive technique for monitoring cerebral oxygenation, is widely used, but its accuracy is questioned because of the possibility of extra-cranial contamination. Ultrasound-tagged near-infrared spectroscopy (UT-NIRS) has been proposed as an improvement over previous methods. We investigated UT-NIRS in healthy volunteers and in brain-dead patients.MethodsWe studied 20 healthy volunteers and 20 brain-dead patients with two UT-NIRS devices, CerOx™ and c-FLOW™ (Ornim Medical, Kfar Saba, Israel), which measure cerebral flow index (CFI), a parameter related to changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF). Monitoring started after the patients had been declared brain dead for a median of 34 (range: 11-300) min. In 11 cases, we obtained further demonstration of absent CBF.ResultsIn healthy volunteers, CFI was markedly different in the two hemispheres in the same subject, with wide variability amongst subjects. In brain-dead patients (median age: 64 yr old, 45% female; 20% traumatic brain injury, 40% subarachnoid haemorrhage, and 40% intracranial haemorrhage), the median (inter-quartile range) CFI was 41 (36-47), significantly higher than in volunteers (33; 27-36).ConclusionsIn brain-dead patients, where CBF is absent, the UT-NIRS findings can indicate an apparently perfused brain. This might reflect an insufficient separation of signals from extra-cranial structures from a genuine appraisal of cerebral perfusion. For non-invasive assessment of CBF-related parameters, the near-infrared spectroscopy still needs substantial improvement.Copyright © 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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