Der Anaesthesist
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Anesthesia may compromise the regulation of systemic and cerebral hemodynamics following changes in body position. Sudden decreases in cerebral perfusion pressure due to changes from a horizontal to a head-elevated position may cause decreases in cerebral blood flow (CBF), particularly in patients with preexisting cerebrovascular disease. Transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) permits on-line measurement of blood flow velocity (BFV) in human basal cerebral arteries, and there is evidence that monitoring of BFV may indicate relative changes in CBF. ⋯ The MCA was insonated by transtemporal approach using a 2 MHz Doppler ultrasound system (TC2-64 B, EME) with a range-gating mechanism, adjustable sample volume depth, and flow direction discrimination. Systolic (Vsyst, cm/s) and mean flow velocity (Vmean, cm/s), pulsatility index (PI), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP, mmHg), heart rate (HR, b/min) and end-tidal CO2 (pet-CO2, mmHg) were recorded with the subjects lying flat (baseline values) and for 5 min following adjustment to a 35-40 degrees head-elevated position. There was a significant reduction of 25% for Vsyst from 79 +/- 17 cm/s (baseline) to 59 +/- 13 cm/s and a 33% decrease for Vmean from 52 +/- 9 cm/s (baseline) to 35 +/- 9 cm/s in group A immediately after repositioning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)