Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 9, Issue 12 697-703, Copyright © 1990 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Sonographic characteristics of small cerebral blood vessels. An in vivo and postmortem study
B. S. Hertzberg, P. C. Burger, J. D. Bowie, S. C. Carson, K. A. Feinstein and O. B. Boyko
Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
The ultrasound appearance of small cerebral blood vessels was investigated
with in vivo and postmortem sonography. Linear echoes corresponding in
distribution to small branches of major cerebral blood vessels,
particularly deep medullary veins, were seen during cranial sonography of
living neonates, neonatal postmortem brains, and adult postmortem brains
following intravascular injection of a barium sulfate-gelatin suspension.
Ease of visualization of the echoes was angle dependent, a phenomenon
termed anisotropy. When imaged in cross-section, these reflectors appeared
as tiny, closely spaced dots, demonstrating their tubular nature.
Additionally, the barium-injected adult postmortem specimens were studied
by computed tomography and plain-film radiography, enabling correlation
between radiography and sonography. This study demonstrates that small
branches of the major intracranial blood vessels can be imaged as linear
echoes and closely spaced dots by high-resolution sonography. It is
important to recognize the vascular origin of these echoes to avoid the
pitfall of misinterpreting them as originating from pathologic processes
such as periventricular leukomalacia.
