Dupleksnoe issledovanie pozvonochnykh arteriy u bol'nykh s arterial'noy gipertenziey

To study the causes of dizziness in patients with arterial hypertension (AH), duplex scanning of vertebral arteries (VA) was made in 256 male and female patients aged 31-67 years with grades 1-2 AH and in 56 healthy individuals matched for age and sex. The investigators compared the indicators of 3 groups of patients: 1) those without complaints of dizziness; 2) those with complaints of dizziness episodes; and 3) those with dizziness during its exacerbations. The study established that more than half of the patients had substantial deviations in the readings of VA duplex scanning. In patients with dizziness, on their exacerbation in particular, there was an increase in the diameter of VAs with a significant reduction in the diameter of the right VA and a rise in that of the left one. There was a considerable decrease in right VA blood flow and an increase in left VA one. The authors conclude that among the AH patients with complaints of dizziness, their cause is vertebrogenic spasm of the right VA in more cases. In another, smaller part of patients with AH, the cause of dizziness seems to be dyscirculatory encephalopathy. It is concluded that VA duplex scanning in patients with AH, by using the criteria proposed by the authors is a simple and available tool for the differential diagnosis of these conditions.

arterial hypertension, duplex ultrasonic scanning of vertebral arteries