The value of computed tomography perfusion & transcranial Doppler in early diagnosis of cerebral vasospasm in aneurysmal & traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage

Early detection and diagnosis of cerebral vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage may be challenging both on clinical and radiographic grounds. In this respect we conducted a pilot study in order to assess the feasibility of the technique in the everyday setting of a tertiary hospital and to evaluate the diagnostic performance of different diagnostic computed tomography perfusion aspects in diagnosing the clinical outcome of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis showed that a cerebral blood flow value of <24.5 presented 67% sensitivity and 100% specificity to diagnose adverse ischemic events at 1 month (p = 0.041). These case series data provide evidence that computed tomography perfusion-derived cerebral blood flow is a measurable index that may detect the degree of cerebral ischemia in a very early stage. Lay abstract: Early detection and diagnosis of cerebral vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage is important but may be challenging both on clinical or radiographic grounds. This article provides evidence that computed tomography perfusion-derived cerebral blood flow is a measurable index that could detect the degree of cerebral ischemia in a very early stage in patients suffering with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Larger studies are needed in order to better define the role of computed tomography perfusion in early diagnosis of cerebral vasospasm.