The comparative characteristic of extra- and intracranial hemodynamics in patients with traumatic brain injury in the long-term period.

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains an actual problem of modern medicine, as well as of economic and social sectors. Vascular factor plays a leading role in forming of the clinical presentation of the disease in the long-term period of TBI. The aim of the study was to clarify the characteristics of hemodynamic changes at different levels of cerebral blood supply (main extra- and intracranial arteries and level of cerebral vessels) depending on the severity of TBI. We examined 100 patients in the long-term period of mild, moderate and severe TBI. All patients underwent rheoencephalography, ultrasound duplex scanning of the main arteries of the head and neck with transcranial dopplerography and functional test with visual load.  Extracranial vascular changes in the long-term period of TBI are characterized by significant increase of carotid intima-media thickness and the diameters of right internal carotid artery and left internal carotid artery together with the severity of TBI. The qualitative analysis of linear blood flow velocity reveals the decrease in the number of patients with a compensatory reaction in the form of its acceleration in the middle cerebral artery with increasing TBI severity but the number of patients with reduced linear blood flow velocity increases. Abnormal autoregulation of the cerebral circulation and reduction of vascular reactivity was established in the majorityof patients of all groups. In addition, the incidence of vascular disturbances increased from 1^st to 3^rd group. According to the results of rheoencephalography, we detected prevailing spastic changes of the curve in all groups of patients. The degree of disturbances manifestations increases with the severity of TBI.