Transcranial Doppler of the middle cerebral artery indicates regional gray matter cerebral perfusion

Objective: We determined if transcranial color-coded Doppler derived hemodynamics are associated with MRI-based cerebral blood flow (CBF) in regions clinically important to dementia in healthy middle-aged adults. Approach: In 30 subjects (18m/12f; age = 52 ±1 years), blood flow velocity (BFV) and cerebrovascular conductance (CVC) were measured with transcranial color-coded Doppler (TCCD) at the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) was assessed with arterial spin labeled perfusion MRI. Main results: BFV and CVC were associated with hippocampus (r = 0.58 and r = 0.61, both p < 0.01) and occipitoparietal (r = 0.50 and r = 0.58, both p < 0.01) CBF. CVC was further associated with posterior cingulate CBF (r = 0.58 p < 0.01). Independent of age and sex, BFV and CVC were associated with hippocampus (r = 0.59 and r = 0.55, both p < 0.003) and occipitoparietal (r = 0.50 and r = 0.57, both p < 0.01) CBF. CVC was independently associated with posterior cingulate CBF (r = 0.38, p = 0.049). Significance: TCCD-measured BFV and CVC of the MCA are indicators of cerebral perfusion to clinically valuable brain regions in healthy middle-aged adults. TCCD may not be a good indicator of blood flow to cerebral white matter.