The potential and limitations of transcranial Doppler in clinical practice

The aim of this review is to bring the clinical relevance of transcranial Doppler (TCD) to light with all of its possibilities and limitations. Indeed TCD, a non-invasive ultrasound technique, allows instantaneous evaluation of the cerebral blood flow: adding physiological information to the anatomical images. Although TCD is frequently used in some places, in other regions TCD remains relatively unknown. However TCD can help the neurologist not only in the management of cerebrovascular disease, but also in a wide variety of central nervous system disorders. TCD monitoring with multichannel and multigate probes can assess vascular reactivity by following various parameters, such as CO2 or arterial blood pressure. Despite the need for more work, emboli detection seems to offer great potential in the future diagnosis, treatment and prevention of stroke.