Doppler ultrasound measurements of superior sagittal sinus blood velocity

Abstract

✓ Transcutaneous Doppler recordings from the patent anterior fontanel were used to measure superior sagittal sinus blood velocity (SSSV). In 15 cases it ranged from 4.5 to 18.1 cm/sec. In five of these patients with no mass effect and normal intracranial pressure, the mean SSSV was 13.6 cm/sec. An independent arteriographic measurement of SSSV was 4.5 cm/sec in a hydrocephalic patient with elevated intracranial pressure whose Doppler measurement of SSSV was 6.6 cm/ sec. The Doppler technique may be used to diagnose sagittal sinus occlusion. SSSV tended to be low when CSF pressure was elevated, but the relationship was not constant.