The Stanford Neurovascular Ultrasound Laboratory opened in 1993 and performs over 1000 transcranial Doppler (TCD) studies annually. The laboratory is directed by Dr Maarten Lansberg, who is board certified in Neurovascular Ultrasound. The laboratory employs two TCD technologists with over 10 year experience in performing TCD studies. TCD is a non-invasive method to study the cerebral vasculature. The non-invasive nature makes TCD an ideal substitute or compliment to other diagnostic tests of the intracranial circulation such as CT angiography and MR angiography. Although TCD is valuable for many patients with problems that affect the blood vessels of the brain, several unique features of TCD make it particularly well suited for certain patient groups. These include:
- Patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage can develop spasm of the blood vessels in the brain which can lead to stroke. Early detection of spasm is important because this allows enough time to start treatment to prevent stroke. TCD can be used at the bedside to monitor if spasm is developing.
- Stroke patients who are allergic to contrast or who have renal insufficiency can undergo TCD because it requires no contrast agent
- Stroke patients who are claustrophobic can be tested with TCD as the study is performed in a regular office setting
- Stroke or TIA patients with known intracranial vessel stenosis can be monitored with TCD yearly to assess for progression of the disease
- Children with Sickle Cell Disease need yearly evaluation of their intracranial vessels. TCD is the preferred test for this.
- Patients with presyncope caused by head maneuvers can be evaluated for vertebral-basilar insufficiency. During the TCD examination the technologist will insonate the vertebrobasilar system in different head positions.
- TCD can be used to determine if a brain-bypass is open in patients who have undergone extracranial-to-intracranial bypass surgery
- Subclavian steel syndrome can be diagnosed using TCD
Please email Dr. Maarten Lansberg at lansberg@stanford.edu if you have any questions regarding the TCD lab or would like to know if TCD may be useful for a particular patient.
Transcranial Doppler Lab
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