CURF Spring 2021 Research Fair

Differentiating Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation Across Vascular Territories

Cerebral autoregulation (CA) describes the brain’s intrinsic capacity to maintain stable cerebral blood flow (CBF) despite fluctuations in blood pressure. CA is impaired in the context of some types of brain injury, most notably acute stroke. This project aimed to characterize and compare CA in all six major cerebral arteries in 40 healthy individuals and subsequently in 32 acute stroke patients to test the hypothesis that CA is focally impaired in the territory of the stroke but preserved elsewhere in the brain. CA was assessed by simultaneously measuring Cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv) and arterial blood pressure (ABP). A transfer function analysis was conducted on the waveforms from each vessel to calculate characteristics of autoregulation: phase, gain, normalized gain, and coherence. Our results suggest there may be stronger absolute CBF regulation in posterior circulation of healthy individuals, but when accounting for differences in absolute flow, regulation appears consistent throughout the brain. Importantly, CA is preserved in vascular territories unaffected by the stroke. These results not only inform our understanding of cerebral hemodynamics after stroke but have implications for future studies aimed personalizing blood pressure goals for stroke patients.

PRESENTED BY
University Scholars
College of Arts & Sciences 2021
Advised By
Christopher G. Favilla, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Join Navpreet for a virtual discussion
PRESENTED BY
University Scholars
College of Arts & Sciences 2021
Advised By
Christopher G. Favilla, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology

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