What does ultrasound (Dopplerography) of the vessels of the head and neck show? Duplex scanning of the main arteries of the head (DS MAG)

Every day there is an improvement in various technologies and the emergence of more modern ones, including medical ones. When it comes to human health and accurate diagnosis his condition, the highest quality examination is needed.

And for research cerebral vessels that provide blood supply to the head requires extremely precise equipment. Nowadays, MAG ultrasound is used for such purposes - a non-invasive method of duplex ultrasound scanning of arteries.

In order to understand the principle ultrasound scanning, let's look at what it is great vessels– the main subject of research.

The brain is fed by two vertebral and two carotid arteries; they are considered paired and form a circle at the base of the brain. These are the main blood supplying arteries. And if pathologies of these vessels occur, the brain tissue will be subject to significant changes, which will necessarily affect the entire body. At severe atherosclerosis and lipid metabolism disorders, there is also a risk of severe conditions due to insufficient blood supply to brain tissue.

So, the main vessels to study are the large arteries of the head and neck. In turn, the main vessels should be divided into areas of their location:

large arteries located when entering the skull - extracranial area or section;
vessels located directly in the area of the skull and its bone canals.

What is Doppler ultrasound of blood vessels?

Any changes affecting at least one artery entail disruption of normal blood circulation. The most accessible and accurate method in this situation is considered to be the method of vascular Doppler ultrasound.

Speaking in simple language, Doppler ultrasound MAG - duplex ultrasound examination of the largest arteries of the head, features of blood flow and its speed. In general, the procedure is a combination of the familiar ultrasound and Doppler effect.

The operating principle of the device is quite simple from a physical and mathematical point of view. During the procedure, changes in the frequency of the signal reflected from bodies in motion are recorded. The equipment is a kind of device with location characteristics, which, when scanning, captures any slightest changes and, thus, reveals the violations for which they are characteristic.

The main demanded and extremely effective methods ultrasound diagnostics vessels of the neck and head today are Doppler ultrasound (UUS), duplex scanning, color scanning, also called triplex mapping.

Usually ultrasound procedures and bridle magician are prescribed when the following symptoms and diseases:

hypertension, high blood pressure;
acute cerebrovascular accidents and brain necrosis with severe paresis and loss of sensitivity;
suffered acute coronary disorders blood circulation, stroke;
narrowing of the cerebral lumens of the cerebral arteries, atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels;
arteriovenous malformation with the manifestation of hemorrhages;
stroke with temporary neurological deficit;
visual impairment;
osteochondrosis spinal column;
dizziness of unknown origin;
preparation for surgical intervention with a diagnosis of ischemia;
dysfunction of the vestibular apparatus;
vegetative-vascular dystonia;
traumatic brain injuries, head contusions, cervical spine, soft tissues of the skull, concussion;
dyscirculatory encephalopathy;
surgical interventions in the neck area;
hereditary defects of the spinal column and cervical region;
parallel chronic diseases, aggravating cerebral vascular diseases, obesity, smoking addiction, diabetes mellitus.

Advantages of the Doppler method

Advantages of modern duplex method is as follows:

the research is quite affordable in terms of material costs;
the process does not differ in duration;
method does not deliver painful sensations to the patient;
high accuracy of identifying negative symptoms.

Important information about ultrasound thymus gland(thymus)

Ultrasound procedure duplex study allows early detection of the degree of damage to blood vessels by atherosclerotic deposits, the presence and varying severity of arterial stenosis, the speed and characteristics of blood circulation.

Simple Doppler sonography concerns only blood vessels. If any violations are caused by reasons outside circulatory system, the device will not show this. However, with the use of more modern and high-precision duplex scanning, other causes of pathologies can be identified.

Ultrasound Doppler Magnet MAG allows the doctor to see the changes occurring in the vessels themselves, to diagnose accurate diagnosis and prescribe the most effective treatment.

Indications for use this method are patients with arterial hypertension, attacks of angina pectoris, chronic ischemia and atherosclerosis, patients with overweight body, osteochondrosis of the spine and its cervical region, with a history of myocardial infarction.

Patients with chronic addiction from smoking and after the age of 40-45 years, it is also recommended to undergo ultrasound examination up to twice a year.

Even such seemingly minor disturbances as ringing in the ears episodic disorders blurred vision, difficulty falling asleep, fainting states, headache, weakness in the upper and lower limbs must be recorded by a doctor and examined using MAG ultrasound. Not to mention more serious pathologies, such as deterioration of attention and memory, loss of consciousness, regular dizziness and loss of coordination.

Ultrasound also has its contraindications. The procedure is not recommended for patients with open wounds cervical spine.

Main goals of duplex ultrasound

The ultrasound scanning method is aimed at obtaining the necessary information to identify the extent of damage to the main main arteries heads. Hypodynamic changes recorded by MAG ultrasound, which occur during low activity and mobility of a person, usually relate to cholesterol deposits. As a result, deformation of the arterial walls occurs in the form of their narrowing. This process can continue until the lumen is completely blocked by cholesterol, which will inevitably lead to impaired blood supply and coronary heart disease. This is very dangerous condition, threatening heart failure and myocardial infarction.

Thus, through duplex Doppler mode, highly accurate information about the stage of the lesion can be obtained.

Combining the study of the condition of the arteries and the assessment of the speed and direction of blood flow, ultrasonic method allows you to diagnose not only the fact of the presence of pathologies, but also the history of their origin, that is, the cause.

The main purpose of cerebral Doppler is to identify pathologies of the main functions of the great vessels of the brain and neck caused by for various reasons. This can be thrombosis and embolism, overgrowth of the vessel wall, compression of the lumen between the arteries and disruption of their patency.

The main indicators revealed during the MAG ultrasound procedure

Scanning helps identify:

quantitative and quality characteristics cholesterol deposits and blood clots;
the degree of damage to the arteries, deformation of their shape;
the quality and degree of thickening of the walls of blood vessels and their loss of plasticity;
parameters of imbalance between vasoconstriction and vasodilation of the endothelium ( motor function arteries);
damage and integrity of vascular walls;
the presence of aneurysms and their parameters;
the degree of disturbance and the size of the gaps in the walls of the arteries;
any conditions that cause brain hypoxia due to circulatory disorders.

This procedure can also be prescribed to monitor quality therapeutic therapy with disorders of the blood supply to the brain.

The most complete picture of the extent of pathologies can be given by color (triplex) scanning. In this case, with changes in blood flow and its speed characteristics, the colors of the image also change. Thus, color Doppler sonography provides the optimal number of changes and a better result regarding the state of blood circulation.

What is an ultrasound of the cervical spine?

How to prepare for the MAG ultrasound procedure

Patients who are prescribed an ultrasound diagnostic method should already 24 hours before the procedure refuse such dishes and products as natural coffee, energy drinks, tea, alcoholic drinks, pickles. It is better, in general, not to eat anything salty, as this can affect general tone vascular system and give incorrect diagnostic indicators.

In addition, you should avoid smoking and swimming in hot water 2-3 hours before the examination.

Before the study, it is necessary to stop taking certain medications, but, as a rule, the doctor warns about this at a previous consultation.

Subject to these simple rules, the probing procedure will be the most accurate and will provide maximum information.

How does an ultrasound scan work?

The examination procedure itself takes from several minutes to one hour. The patient must undress to the waist and take horizontal position. The doctor uses a special acoustic gel for the procedure. This makes it easier to slide along skin, as well as for greater sound conductivity.

During scanning, in order to scan as much as possible blood vessels head and neck, the patient must roll over onto his side and stomach as directed by a specialist. In this way, external and internal large main vessels are scanned - vertebral and carotid arteries, veins of the spinal column and jugular vessels.

Sometimes the doctor asks the patient to change his position to a vertical one, that is, to sit up, hold his breath, or take some medicine. Such tests are needed to identify a more complete picture of disorders and are used, most often, when there are certain hereditary pathologies of blood vessels and their structure, for example, the absence of internal carotid artery.

In practice, after the end of the probing, a qualified doctor can make a diagnosis and write a medical report based on the results of the examination.

The document will indicate the presence and description of the anomalies found, the direction and speed of blood movement, the condition of the vessels and their walls.

Since during normal blood circulation the vessels are not narrowed, there are no deposits or blood clots in them, the blood movement is not subject to turbulence, and the examination result is compared with normal characteristics vessels, the doctor can immediately see all pathologies and disorders.

This study is considered safe and does not harm patients, so anyone can use this diagnosis age category. In some cases, ultrasound probing is used even for newborns and infants needing an accurate diagnosis.

Ultrasound diagnostics in children

The Doppler ultrasound method is widely used in childhood diseases, especially in the field of vascular diseases of the nervous system. In addition, disruption of normal blood circulation often occurs in newborns with postpartum hypoxia.

Ultra-precise diagnostics helps to detect pathologies at the earliest stages and avoid the development severe conditions when a burst vessel can cause misfortune.

It is with the help of ultrasound that it is possible to recognize developmental defects and the subsequent occurrence of problems with the blood supply to the body based on symptoms such as headache in a child, decreased memory, attention and learning, chronic hypoxia because of congenital pathologies, vegetative-vascular dystonia.

When diagnosing childhood diseases, painless and safe procedure Ultrasound scanning is especially relevant.

Doppler ultrasound of blood vessels head and neck (doppler ultrasound) – modern method assessments cerebral circulation, which does not involve direct intervention in the body. He represents special value in the field of diagnosing a group of cerebrovascular diseases, which often lead to fatal outcome. This study allows us to obtain the most reliable result in the absence negative influence on the human body.

Doppler ultrasound of the brain - combined method, combining the capabilities of ultrasound and studies based on the Doppler effect. The essence of the latter is that sound wave reflected from a moving object. In medicine, this effect is expressed in the reflection of ultrasound waves from blood particles, which allows a specialist to assess the nature and speed of blood flow in cerebral arteries and veins.

In practice, the combination of two such valuable techniques as ultrasound and vascular Doppler makes it possible to construct an image of the walls of blood vessels, which is achieved using reflected ultrasonic waves, and at the same time demonstrate the movement of blood bodies along them in dynamics. The latter becomes possible with the help of Doppler ultrasound.

What do doctors determine using this diagnostic method?

A computer program combines the two obtained images and, as a result, a complete picture is created, reflecting the nature of blood movement through the veins and arteries.

This combined method is also called Doppler ultrasound MAG - Doppler ultrasound of the main arteries of the head. Doppler ultrasound of the head and neck vessels examines the condition of the arteries that perform important function, nourishing brain tissue, as well as sleepy and vertebral arteries.

USDG – worthy replacement invasive diagnostic measures (arteriography), the implementation of which requires the supply of contrast agents to the blood.

The survey is carried out in two ways, depending on the area being surveyed.

Transcranial Dopplerography of cerebral vessels (TCDG) is a technique that allows you to assess the condition of arterial and venous system located in the brain. Its peculiarity is the ability to examine blood vessels even if the cranial bones do not allow ultrasound to pass through them and obtain an image of the areas of interest. In this case, specialists use acoustic windows - areas of the head through which ultrasonic waves can penetrate into the skull. These are the orbits, the area of the articulation of the cervical spine and the occipital bone, as well as temporal areas.

Survey of large cervical arteries

Dopplerography of extracranial vessels is a method of examining large cervical arteries. These include carotid, vertebrate, jugular veins And subclavian arteries. This method is also known as ultrasound examination of the brachiocephalic vessels.

Ultrasound Dopplerography of the vessels of the head and neck can be carried out in two types:

involves obtaining images of arteries and determining blood flow parameters.
Triplex scanning is a similar procedure, but with more extensive visualization capabilities: in the resulting image, the direction and speed of blood flow are colored in different colors.

Advantages of the diagnostic method

Doppler ultrasound of the head is a method that provides reliable information about the condition of all vessels - both large and small.

The advantages of this method, such as Doppler examination of blood vessels, are:

The versatility of the technique allows the study to be carried out regardless of the condition or age of the patient;
No radiation exposure or penetration into arteries;

Painless and safe ultrasound sensor used during examination

No need to inject into the artery contrast agent to visualize the results;
Painless;
The ability to assess not only the condition of blood vessels, but also the compensatory capabilities of blood circulation. In this case we're talking about about the detection of bypass pathways of blood flow, which are necessary in case of compression of the main vessel or thrombosis.

Another advantage of MAG ultrasound is the absence of contraindications.

The Doppler ultrasound method allows you to assess the quality of blood circulation in the brain. At the same time, an ultrasound scan of the neck vessels is performed to get an idea of the condition of the arteries supplying the brain with blood.

During the diagnosis, the specialist identifies:

Indicators of vessel patency and compliance of its course with the normal trajectory;
The condition of the tissues surrounding the veins and arteries;
Vessel lumen diameter;
Anatomical features and elasticity of artery walls.

Using ultrasound of the vessels of the neck and head, the following is determined:

To what extent was blood flow impaired due to the resulting traumatic brain injuries;
Factors affecting the blood supply to the brain;
The degree of damage to intracranial vessels on early stage insufficient blood supply to the brain;

Brain vessels

Signs of early cerebrovascular lesions in individuals at risk of developing atherosclerosis and other vascular pathologies increased;
Microembolism and stenosis of cerebral vessels;
The state of blood circulation during surgery.

Cases in which diagnostics are indicated

Doppler ultrasound is diagnostic event, which is indicated for:

Frequent dizziness and migraines;
Deviations in the functioning of the heart;
Noise in the ears, head;
Injuries in the head or neck area;
Diabetes mellitus;
Convulsions;
Frequent fainting;

Ultrasound diagnostics doctor Murat Medzhidovich Nagaplev talks about the indications for the examination:

Elevated blood pressure;
Varicose veins;
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine;
Coronary disease hearts;
Defects of the heart muscle;
Kidney diseases;
Increased cholesterol in the blood.

Persons over 55 years of age are recommended to undergo such diagnostic procedure, such as Dopplerography of the vessels of the head and neck, at least once a year, if they have hereditary predisposition to the development of cardiac pathologies.

In addition, experienced smokers must undergo ultrasound examination.

The child must undergo this test if he or she exhibits abnormalities. mental development or scoliosis. Other indications include injury to the cervical vertebrae, increased fatigue and lethargy, as well intrauterine anomalies cerebral vessels in children early age.

The duration of Doppler ultrasound of the cerebral vessels is about 25-35 minutes, of the vascular system of the neck - from 20 to 25 minutes.

Preparation for the procedure and features of its implementation

There is no need to prepare for Doppler ultrasound of the vessels of the brain and neck. The only thing that is required of the examinee is to refrain from consuming certain foods that affect vascular tone on the day of the ultrasound examination and the day before. These include tea and coffee, energy drinks, and nicotine.

Before performing an ultrasound scan of the head, the patient should consult a doctor if he is taking any medicines, and find out whether there is a need to abandon them before the manipulation.

It was mentioned above that there are no contraindications to the study. However, diagnostics can be difficult if the patient has a pronounced subcutaneous fat layer, there are features in the location of the vessel being examined, or there is a violation heart rate.

Doppler examination of blood vessels begins with the patient lying on his back and throwing his head back. The carotid arteries are first palpated, determining the depth, mobility, and strength of their pulsation. The specialist treats the skin areas and the sensor with a special gel, which removes air between them and makes the passage of ultrasonic waves possible.

First, the vessels of the cervical spine are examined. The specialist conducting the study applies the sensor to the required areas and moves it along the course of the arteries. During ultrasound examination, the patient cannot speak or move his head.

Next, ultrasound scanning of intracranial vessels is performed - those located in the cranial cavity. They are examined through the thinnest areas of the skull bones - the temporal and occipital bone, orbits, foramen magnum. The sensor is installed on the closed eyelid or above auricle.

A sensor attached to a specific area of the head or neck picks up the ultrasound signal that is reflected from the artery or vein and sends it to the monitor.

Interpretation of the received data

The interpretation of the results obtained during ultrasonic testing reflects such indicators as the lowest and high speed blood flow, the difference between these two parameters, the thickness of the vessel wall and its diameter.

For each indicator there is a certain norm. Thus, the minimum thickness of the artery wall should be 1 mm, the diameter of the vertebral arteries should be 2 mm. The norm also means that internal branch The carotid artery has no branches before entering the skull.

Detailed video about the results ultrasound diagnostics and data decryption:

The parameter obtained during diagnosis may differ from the norm - in such cases, the doctor states that there is a violation.

After the decoding is done, the specialist can diagnose:

Non-stenotic or stenotic atherosclerosis;
Vasculitis;
Diabetes mellitus;
Hypoplasia of the vertebral arteries;
Extravasal compressions;
Thrombosis;

It should be noted that if it is necessary to determine the condition of individual vessels (this could be a small vein or artery located in hard-to-reach places), additional angiography may be necessary.

The cost of an ultrasound scan of the head and neck will range from 3,000 to 8,000 rubles.

It is necessary to distinguish the described diagnostic method - Doppler ultrasound - from. The essence of the event is that a low-frequency current is passed through the brain structures. Then an image of the electrical resistance of the brain tissue is displayed on the monitor. The method shows the condition and tone of blood vessels, the elasticity of their walls, and the rate of blood flow into them. It can also be used to detect tumors in brain tissue.

Preparation for the REG procedure

Experts believe that similar method outdated and often replaced ultrasound examination.

Diagnostic method Ultrasound scanning as the most informative in the field modern diagnostics allows you to objectively assess blood flow in the brain and neck and, based on this, make a correct diagnosis. You don't need to take the test special training, and during its implementation there will be no pain or discomfort. The procedure with a total duration of one hour will reveal serious pathologies and quickly determine the course of treatment.