Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Cerebrovascular disease – Diagnosis'

Background and Purpose Stroke is the loss of brain’s function caused by hypoxia of brain cells depending on the severity and the location of the stroke. In Hong Kong, strokes are the 4th leading cause of death and morbidity in the year of 2010. Dysphagia is a common morbidity related to stroke. Approximately, 50% of stroke patients with dysphagia are suffered with aspiration and aspiration pneumonia which may lead to increased length of stay in hospitals, mortality rate and medical costs. An early nursing dysphagic screening and assessment protocol can help in early detect of dysphagia and therefore help to reduce incidence of aspiration and pneumonia. In order to understand the effectiveness of the nursing dysphagic screening and assessment protocol for the acute stroke patients, a number of studies have been reviewed to gather evidences for the translational research. A bedside nursing swallowing screening and assessment for patients with stroke is developed by incorporating findings from the literature review. Review Question In comparison to the routine care, is the nursing dysphagia assessment intended for the acute stroke patients more effective in reducing (1) the waiting time for having swallow assessment and the (2) the incidence of aspiration and pneumonia? Methods A systematic review of literatures from Ovid Medline (from 1946 to 2012), Pubmed (all dates), CINAHL Plus (from 1971 to 2012) and China Journal Net (from 1912 to 2012) was conducted. Five studies of bedside swallow screening and assessment that can be performed by nurses were selected and critically appraised using the recognized assessment criteria. Results The key components identified from the reviewed studies including swallowing assessment should be performed by trained nurses and acute stroke patients should be alert and able and can keep the sit up position during the swallowing assessment. Moreover, water swallowing test must be included as a part of the swallow assessment and assessment should best be performed in daily basic. Patients should be keeping nil of mouth when they failed the screening and referred for further assessment and management. Implementation potential in terms of transferability, feasibility and the cost benefit ratio of the proposed innovation were assessed. A communication plan was developed for the integration of the proposed innovation into the clinical setting. Outcome measures such as positive predictive value of detecting dysphagia, mean waiting time of waiting the initial swallow screening, occurrence of pneumonia, staff knowledge and compliance were identified to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed innovation and guideline. Conclusion The findings of this systematic review showed that the nursing dysphagic swallow screening and assessment is effective in detecting the dysphagia of the acute stroke patients. Further development of the proposed innovation will be conducted in the clinical setting in order to satisfy the needs of the acute stroke patients.
published_or_final_version
Nursing Studies
Master
Master of Nursing

Durante las últimas décadas, una de las principales aspiraciones de la investigación biomédica ha constituido el diagnóstico precoz de diferentes enfermedades de alta tasa de mortalidad. La posibilidad de detección en fase temprana o, mejor dicho, en la etapa asintomática, del desarrollo de la enfermedad ha impulsado la búsqueda de nuevos biomarcadores. Los biomarcadores convencionales, por lo general, se han identificado a partir de mecanismos de acción ya conocidos. Por otro lado, las nuevas tecnologías “- ómicas” emergentes permiten el descubrimiento y caracterización no sesgada de las variaciones genéticas y epigenéticas asociadas con predisposición a la enfermedad. Los microRNAs (miRNAs) juegan un importante papel en diferentes patologías gracias a su capacidad de influir tanto en procesos fisiológicos: diferenciación celular, proliferación, crecimiento, apoptosis, angiogénesis, e inmuno- inflamatorios, y en la comunicación celular, como en multitud de patologías: el cáncer, las enfermedades autoinmunes y las patologías de origen vascular, como el ictus y la preeclampsia (PE). Según la OMS, el accidente cerebrovascular es la tercera causa más común de muerte en los países desarrollados, sólo superada por las enfermedades coronarias y el cáncer. A nivel mundial, cada año 15 millones de personas en todo el mundo sufren un accidente cerebrovascular. De éstos, 5,5 millones mueren y otros 5 millones quedan discapacitadas de forma permanente, lo cual supone una carga familiar y comunitaria. La PE es un trastorno multisistémico que complica 5%-8% de los embarazos en los países occidentales, y constituye una fuente importante de morbilidad y mortalidad en todo el mundo. Es responsable de aproximadamente 76.000 muertes maternas y 500.000 muertes infantiles por año en todo el mundo. El objetivo principal del presente estudio ha sido la evaluación de los miRNAs circulantes como biomarcadores no-invasivos para el diagnóstico/pronóstico de dos patologías inflamatorias de origen vascular: PE e ictus. Para evaluar la utilidad de los miRNAs circulantes como biomarcadores moleculares no invasivos para la predicción precoz de la PE, se realizó un análisis de perfilado molecular diferencial utilizando la plataforma OpenArray. El cribado de 754 miRNAs ha confirmado la presencia de 63 de ellos en el suero de mujeres gestantes de primer trimestre, aunque sólo 7 miRNAs parecieron estar diferencialmente, aunque modestamente (rango FC: 0.4-1.4), regulados cuando se compararon gestantes con PE y gestantes con embarazos no complicados. Sin embargo, no hemos podido confirmar la expresión diferencial de estos 7 miRNAs en muestras individuales mediante RT-qPCR TaqMan. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los miRNAs del suero materno durante el primer trimestre de la gestación no parecen tener ningún valor diagnóstico para PE temprana. En el segundo estudio de esta Tesis se sugiere, según análisis bioinformáticos, que la expresión alterada de miR-638 podría modular la cascada de expresión de diferentes genes diana que desempeñan un papel importante en diferentes procesos y vías de señalización implicadas en la patogénesis de la aterosclerosis y la isquemia cerebral. La inflamación juega un papel crucial en la iniciación y progresión de la aterosclerosis. Hemos verificado la presencia y la participación del miR-638 en el proceso inflamatorio en células endoteliales HUVEC inducidas por estímulos pro-inflamatorios (TNFα y IFNγ), observando una regulación que concuerda con los resultados obtenidos en suero humano Por primera vez, hemos sugerido que los niveles séricos de miR-638 pueden constituir un biomarcador no invasivo prometedor asociado con placa aterosclerótica carotidea vulnerable e ictus isquémico, particularmente en individuos con elevado riesgo cardiovascular. Asimismo, el miR-638 sérico podría resultar útil como biomarcador pronóstico, para monitorizar la efectividad del tratamiento médico y/o la aparición de reestenosis en pacientes revascularizados.

The neurophysiological basis of cognition changes with age is relatively unexplained, with most studies reporting weak relationships between cognition and measures of brain function, such as event related potentials, brain size and cerebral blood flow. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is an in vivo method used to detect metabolites within the brain that are relevant to certain brain processes. Recent studies have shown that these metabolites, in particular N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), which is associated with neuronal viability, correlate with performance on neuropsychological tests or other measures of cognitive function in patients with a variety of cognitive disorders associated with ageing and in normal ageing subjects. We have studied the relationship between metabolites and cognitive function in elderly patients 3 months and 3 years after a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and in an ageing comparison group. Metabolites were no different between stroke/TIA patients and elderly controls, however, there were significant metabolite differences between stroke/TIA patients with cognitive impairment (Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Vascular Dementia) and those without. Frontal measures of NAA and NAA/Cr predicted cognitive decline over 12 months and 3 years in stroke/TIA patients and elderly controls, and these measures were superior predictors than structural MRI measures. Longitudinal stability of metabolites in ageing over 3 years was associated with stability of cognitive function. The results indicate that 1H-MRS is a useful tool in differentiating stroke/TIA patients with and without cognitive impairment, with possibly superior predictive ability than structural MRI for assessing future cognitive decline. The changes in 1H-MRS that occur with ageing and cognitive decline have implications for the neurophysiological mechanisms and processes that are occurring in the brain, as well as application to clinical diagnosis, the early detection of pathology and the examination of longitudinal change.

Cerebrovascular diseases (CD) are the third most common cause of death and the leading cause of disability in adults in developed countries (Carmichael, 2012; World Health Organization, 2004). Specifically, ischemic stroke and white matter lesions (WML) often result in multiple neurological, cognitive impairment and behavioral and emotional disorders (Gorelick et al., 2011; Troncoso et al., 2008). Strokes are responsible for damage in the core of the ischemic lesion but may also cause alterations in remote areas from the primary ischemic lesion. The thalamus is a key structure in the cortico-subcortical circuits (Alexander et al., 1986; Byne et al., 2009) and is involved in multiple cognitive functions (Herrero et al., 2002; Sherman, 2005) especially in functions executive, one of the most affected cognitive domains after suffering a stroke. Although it is known that the cortico- subcortical circuits are involved in cognitive functions, to date their neuroimage correlates are unknown. The overall objective of this thesis was to study the effects of a disruption in the cortico-subcortical circuits, due to a direct or remote damage, in executive functions. For the study of remote thalamic abnormalities we use the technique of diffusion tensor image (DTI) for both ischemic stroke and WML. Moreover, due to attention and cognitive inhibition are one of the most important functions of executive domain, we studied the relationship between a specific white matter (WM) tract -called Front aslant Tract (FAT)- and these functions. The study results showed that remote thalamic microstructural abnormalities secondary to a cerebrovascular lesion can occur in both ipsilateral and contralateral thalamus, in healthy subjects with WML and in patients with cerebral ischemic stroke. These thalamic abnormalities may be related to a disruption in the cortico-subcortical circuits associated with executive dysfunction. In addition, the right FAT is involved in attention and response inhibition functions in community-dwelling subjects and participants with ischemic stroke. In conclusion, the results obtained in this thesis suggest that stroke can affect the cortico-subcortical circuits through thalamic microstructural abnormalities and these could be related to cognitive dysfunction. Finally, the novel technique of DTI can play an important role in understanding the cognitive functioning in both ischemic stroke and WML.
Los accidentes cerebrovasculares (ACV) son la tercera causa más común de muerte y la causa principal de discapacidad en adultos en los países desarrollados (Carmichael, 2012; Organización Mundial de la Salud, 2004). Concretamente, el ictus isquémico y las lesiones de sustancia blanca (LSB) frecuentemente dan lugar a múltiples secuelas neurológicas, deterioro cognitivo y alteraciones conductuales y emocionales (Gorelick et al., 2011; Troncoso et al., 2008). Los ACV son responsables de daño en la zona primaria de la lesión isquémica pero también pueden producir alteraciones en áreas remotas a ésta. El tálamo es una estructura clave en los circuitos cortico-subcorticales (Alexander et al., 1986; Byne et al., 2009) y está involucrado en múltiples funciones cognitivas (Herrero et al., 2002; Sherman, 2005) especialmente en las funciones ejecutivas, uno de los dominios cognitivos más afectados después de sufrir un ACV. Aunque se sabe que los circuitos cortico-subcorticales están implicados en las funciones cognitivas, hasta la fecha sus correlatos de neuroimagen se desconocen. El objetivo general de esta tesis ha sido estudiar los efectos de una interrupción en los circuitos cortico-subcorticales debido a una lesión directa o remota en las funciones ejecutivas. Para el estudio de las anomalías talámicas remotas usamos la técnica de la Imagen por Tensor de Difusión (ITD), tanto para el ictus isquémico como para las LSB. Además, dado que la atención y la inhibición cognitiva son una de las funciones más importantes de las funciones ejecutivas, estudiamos la relación entre un tracto de sustancia blanca (SB) -llamado Frontal Aslant Tract (FAT)- y estas funciones. Los resultados de los estudios mostraron que anomalías secundarias microestructurales talámicas remotas a la lesión cerebrovascular pueden ocurrir tanto en el tálamo ipsilateral como en el tálamo contralateral, en sujetos sanos con LSB y en pacientes con un ictus cerebral isquémico. Estas anomalías talámicas pueden estar relacionadas con una disrupción en los circuitos cortico-subcorticales asociado con disfunción ejecutiva. Además, en sujetos de la comunidad y con un ictus isquémico, el FAT derecho está implicado en atención e inhibición de respuesta. En conclusión, los resultados obtenidos en la presente tesis doctoral sugieren que los ACV puede afectar los circuitos cortico-subcortical a través de anomalías microstructurales talámicas y éstas podrían estar relacionadas con la disfunción cognitiva. Finalmente, la novedosa técnica de la ITD puede tener un papel relevante en el conocimiento del funcionamiento cognitivo tanto en el ictus isquémico como en las LSB.

Stroke is the third most common cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. The existing treatments of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) involve pharmaceutical thrombolytic therapy and/or mechanical thrombectomy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) administration for treatment of stroke is efficacious, but has a short treatment time window and is associated with a risk of symptomatic hemorrhage. Other than tPA, the Mechanical Embolus Removal in Cerebral Ischemia (MERCI) retriever system and the Penumbra Aspiration system are both approved by the FDA for retrieval of thromboemboli in AIS patients. However, the previous clinical studies have shown that the recanalization rate of the MERCI system and the clinical outcome of the Penumbra system are not optimal. To identify the variables which could affect the performance of the thrombectomy devices, much effort has been devoted to evaluate thrombectomy devices in model systems, both in vivo and in vitro, of vascular occlusion. The goal of this study is to establish a physiologically realistic, in vitro model system for the preclinical assessment of mechanical thrombectomy devices. In this study, the model system of cerebrovascular occlusion was mainly composed of a human vascular replica, an embolus analogue (EA), and a simulated physiologic mock circulation system. The human vascular replica represents the geometry of the internal carotid artery (ICA)/middle cerebral artery (MCA) that is derived from image data in a population of patients. The features of the vasculature were characterized in terms of average curvature (AC), diameter, and length, and were used to determine the representative model. A batch manufacturing was developed to prepare the silicone replica. The EA is a much neglected component of model systems currently. To address this limitation, extensive mechanical characterization of commonly used EAs was performed. Importantly, the properties of the EAs were compared to specimens extracted from patients. In the preliminary tests of our model system, we selected a bovine EA with stiffness similar to the thrombi retrieved from the atherosclerotic plaques. This EA was used to create an occlusion in the aforesaid replica. The thrombectomy devices tested included the MERCI L5 Retriever, Penumbra system 054, Enterprise stent, and an ultrasound waveguide device. The primary efficacy endpoint was the amount of blood flow restored, and the primary safety endpoint was an analysis of clot fragments generated and their size distribution. A physiologically realistic model system of cerebrovascular occlusion was successfully built and applied for preclinical evaluation of thrombectomy devices. The recanalization rate of the thrombectomy device was related to the ability of the device to capture the EA during the removal of the device and the geometry of the cerebrovasculature. The risk of the embolic shower was influenced by the mechanical properties of the EA and the design of the thrombectomy device.

In ischaemic stroke a disruption of cerebral blood flow leads to impaired metabolism and the formation of an ischaemic penumbra in which tissue at risk of infarction is sought for clinical intervention. In stroke trials, therapeutic intervention has largely been based on perfusion-weighted measures, but these have not been shown to be good predictors of tissue outcome. The aim of this thesis was to develop analysis techniques for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) in order to quantify metabolic signals associated with tissue fate in patients with acute ischaemic stroke. This included addressing robustness for clinical application, and developing quantitative tools that allow exploration of the in-vivo complexity. Tissue-level analyses were performed on a dataset of 12 patients who had been admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford with acute ischaemic stroke and recruited into a clinical imaging study. Further characterisation of signals was performed on stroke models and tissue phantoms. A comparative study of CEST analysis techniques established a model-based approach, Bloch-McConnell model analysis, as the most robust for measuring pH-weighted signals in a clinical setting. Repeatability was improved by isolating non-CEST effects which attenuate signals of interest. The Bloch-McConnell model was developed further to explore whether more biologically-precise quantification of CEST effects was both possible and necessary. The additional model complexity, whilst more reflective of tissue biology, diminished contrast that distinguishes tissue fate, implying the biology is more complex than pH alone. The same model complexity could be used reveal signal patterns associated with tissue outcome that were otherwise obscured by competing CEST processes when observed through simpler models. Improved quantification techniques were demonstrated which were sufficiently robust to be used on clinical data, but also provided insight into the different biological processes at work in ischaemic tissue in the early stages of the disease. The complex array of competing processes in pathological tissue has underscored a need for analysis tools adequate for investigating these effects in the context of human imaging. The trends herein identified at the tissue level support the use of quantitative CEST MRI analysis as a clinical metabolic imaging tool in the investigation of ischaemic stroke.

Wong, Adrian.
"August 2007."
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-221).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Ho Sin Yee, Stella.
"August 2002."
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-193).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Abstracts in English and Chinese.

The Hyperdense Middle Cerebral Artery Sign (HMCAS) is a specific finding on non-enhanced computed tomography (NECT) that correlates with acute ischaemic stroke affecting the middle cerebral artery (MCA). It is one of the first investigation findings that may be apparent to a clinician and has potential implications for management. Given that the HMCAS is seen on the routinely performed NECT brain scan and that its presence has significant time-critical clinical implications, a clear understanding of the sign is essential. A number of investigators have looked at characteristics associated with the sign including its reliability, sensitivity, specificity, association with stroke severity, comorbid associations, treatment response in patients who present with the sign and overall prognosis. The sign appears to be a consistent marker of severe stroke. Overall, the patient group presenting with the sign has been shown to have a poor short-term prognosis without thrombolytic therapy and poorer intermediate-long term outcome with thrombolytic therapy when compared to patients without the sign. Chapter 1 presents a literature review on the topic of the HMCAS, detailing and summarising the significant findings to date. Chapter 2 reports a prospective observational study that has confirmed previous results relating to the low sensitivity and high specificity of the sign. It looked carefully at comorbid associations with the sign as well as the intermediate-long term prognosis of patients not treated with thrombolytic therapy. The results showed that the sign was associated with a more severe initial neurological deficit, as well as atrial fibrillation (AF). The 3-6 month outcome of patients in this group was poor, with the majority being fully dependent or deceased on follow-up. Inter-observer agreement between the two reporting neuroradiologists was good, however, the study generated some doubt on the reliability and accuracy of HMCAS reporting in general. Chapter 3 presents a study that assessed the reliability of HMCAS reporting amongst clinicians with varying levels of experience. It also examined how accurately and consistently clinicians of similar experience report on the presence or absence of an HMCAS when reporting NECT scans. The results showed that if a scan was reported not to show an HMCAS, then this was highly likely to be the case regardless of the level of experience of the reporting clinician. However, true positive scans were far more difficult to report accurately. Chapter 4 outlines the key conclusions that can be derived from literature to date and the two studies. It further offers recommendations for clinicians dealing with HMCAS-positive patients in the setting of acute ischaemic stroke.

Early deterioration and long-term recurrence were common after stroke or transient ischemic attach (TIA), however, it is unclear whether they were correlated with active embolization and the consequent new cerebral infarct in acute phase. By employing TCD and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), we studied the significance of the progression of MES and infarcts during acute phase on the clinical outcomes. We found that the disappearance of MES was correlated with better improvement on day 7 of recruitment; for the long-term outcome, occurrence of exacerbating infarct tended to predict recurrent stroke. Treatment aiming to reduce MES and prevent infarct exacerbation in acute phase may improve the prognosis after stroke.
Finally, one study was performed to assess the changes of hemodynamic parameters after stenting of severe stenosis in the MCA. We aimed to investigate whether TCD can reflect the lumen changes after revascularization and detect hyperperfusion. The findings showed that the velocity of stented MCA in most patients normalized within 24 hours after procedure, but the role of TCD in detecting restenosis in long run needed to be verified; no one suffered from hyperperfusion during the period of our study. The long-term outcomes of patients with normalized velocity versus those with persistently high velocity needed to be further studied. Apart from the velocity changes, changes of the collateral flow after intervention may also be an important part of hemodynamic changes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
It was suggested that anti-platelet therapy can reduce the MES, but little was known about the efficacy of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) although in theory LMWH can reduce the red fibrin-dependent thromboemboli. As a sub-analysis of Fraxiparine in Ischemic Stroke (FISS)-tris study, our study did not show advantages of LMWH in eliminating MES compared with aspirin.
Previous studies showed the accuracy of TCD in diagnosis of middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis was variable and the positive predictive value (PPV) was less than 50% in a recent report. One of the important reasons was that most criteria were based on the velocity-only method, ignoring other non-velocity information. Thus, we tried to establish new diagnostic criteria by means of designing an assessment form which integrated more characteristics apart from the velocity acceleration. A composite score for each MCA was calculated according to following parameters in the form: Velocity Scale (score 0-6 for peak systolic velocities<140 to ≥300cm/s), Hemodynamic Scale (score 0-5 for focal or diffuse velocity increase; score 0-6 for differences between bilateral MCA; score 17 for damping velocity), Spectrum Scale (score 0-2 for normal spectrum, turbulence and musical murmurs). Our results showed that compared with the previously reported criteria, the score calculated from the assessment form yielded much more balanced accuracy against magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). However, the composition of the assessment form was only based on personal experience and need to be further modified. Multicenter studies with large sample size are also needed to confirm the advantages of this new method.
Second, we performed three studies to investigate the relationship between the progression of MES and the short or long-term outcome and the relationship between MES and different treatments.
Hao, Qing.
Adviser: Ka Sing Wong.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3419.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-181).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
School code: 1307.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging and echo color Doppler (ECD) scan techniques do not accurately assess the cerebral venous return. This generated considerable scientific controversy linked with the diagnosis of a vascular syndrome known as chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) characterized by restricted venous outflow from the brain. The purpose of this study was to assess the cerebral venous return in relation to the change in position by means of a novel cervical plethysmography method. METHODS: This was a single-center, cross-sectional, blinded case-control study conducted at the Vascular Diseases Center, University of Ferrara, Italy. The study involved 40 healthy controls (HCs; 18 women and 22 men) with a mean age of 41.5 +/- 14.4 years, and 44 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS; 25 women and 19 men) with a mean age of 41.0 +/- 12.1 years. All participants were previously scanned using ECD sonography, and further subset in HC (CCSVI negative at ECD) and CCSVI groups. Subjects blindly underwent cervical plethysmography, tipping them from the upright (90 degrees ) to supine position (0 degrees ) in a chair. Once the blood volume stabilized, they were returned to the upright position, allowing blood to drain from the neck. We measured venous volume (VV), filling time (FT), filling gradient (FG) required to achieve 90% of VV, residual volume (RV), emptying time (ET), and emptying gradient (EG) required to achieve 90% of emptying volume (EV) where EV = VV - RV, also analyzing the considered parameters by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and principal component mathematical analysis. RESULTS: The rate at which venous blood discharged in the vertical position (EG) was significantly faster in the controls (2.73 mL/second +/- 1.63) compared with the patients with CCSVI (1.73 mL/second +/- 0.94; P = .001). In addition, respectively, in controls and in patients with CCSVI, the following parameters were highly significantly different: FT 5.81 +/- 1.99 seconds vs 4.45 +/- 2.16 seconds (P = .003); FG 0.92 +/- 0.45 mL/second vs 1.50 +/- 0.85 mL/second (P < .001); RV 0.54 +/- 1.31 mL vs 1.37 +/- 1.34 mL (P = .005); ET 1.84 +/- 0.54 seconds vs 2.66 +/- 0.95 seconds (P < .001). Mathematical analysis demonstrated a higher variability of the dynamic process of cerebral venous return in CCSVI. Finally, ROC analysis demonstrated a good sensitivity of the proposed test with a percent concordant 83.8, discordant 16.0, tied 0.2 (C = 0.839). CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral venous return characteristics of the patients with CCSVI were markedly different from those of the controls. In addition, our results suggest that cervical plethysmography has great potential as an inexpensive screening device and as a postoperative monitoring tool.