Cerebral blood flow and oxygenation during head-up tilt in patients with multiple system atrophy and healthy control subjects

• Published in: Parkinsonism & related disorders Vol. 12; no. 8; pp. 472 - 477
• Main Authors: Asahina, Masato, Sato, Jiro, Tachibana, Masatoshi, Hattori, Takamichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2006
• Subjects: Aged; Autonomic failure; Cerebral autoregulation; Cerebral blood flow; Cerebral oxygenation; Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology; Female; Head; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Multiple system atrophy; Multiple System Atrophy - blood; Multiple System Atrophy - physiopathology; Orthostatic hypotension; Oxygen - blood; Oxygen Consumption; Posture; Time Factors; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial - methods; Multiple system atrophy; Cerebral autoregulation; Cerebral oxygenation; Cerebral blood flow; Orthostatic hypotension; Autonomic failure
• ISSN: 1353-8020; 1873-5126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2006.05.002

To assess cerebral hemodynamics in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA), cerebral blood flow and oxygenation were evaluated in 7 MSA patients and 9 healthy controls during a head-up tilt test (HUT) by means of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography and near-infrared spectrophotometry. In the MSA patients examined, the perfusion pressure reduction during HUT was marked, but severe reduction in blood flow velocity was prevented because of a decrease in cerebrovascular resistance. The MSA patients showed no severe reduction in cerebral oxygenation during HUT. These findings indicate that our MSA patients exhibited a compensatory cerebral vasodilatation response to orthostatic hypotension.