BACKGROUND & AIM: A loss of SV of CBFV has been observed in adults and infants after ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular events, but the mechanism initiating SV is not yet understood. Inconsistent filtering methods and cut off values may eliminate frequencies of interest, causing aliasing effects and hampering comparison of results from different investigators. In this study we developed of a generally acceptable analysis method for SV after the systematic investigation of SV in haealthy neonates.

PATIENTS & METHODS: 15 healthy neonates were investigated at the age of <36 h and at 4-6 wks. CBFV were assessed continously with an adaptated transcranial Doppler instrument (DWL, Multi Dop X - ISPTA: 1,5-5mW/cm2) in both MCA synchronously for > 30 min and subjected to spectral analysis using FFT. In order to compare the mean frequency (x-axis) and mean energy (y-axis) of each spectrum of 5 min sequences the region of interest (< 0.2 Hz) was extracted then the gravity point of the area under the curve were analysed.

RESULTS: Figure

figure 1

Figure 1

CONCLUSION: In healthy neonates mean energy of SV increases with age. Assessment of SV might give essential information on cerebral well being or morbidity and provide a non-invasive bed-side monitoring method in future. Gravity point analysis of 5 min sequences allows uniform statistical analysis of FFT.