Transcranial Doppler combined with quantitative electroencephalography brain function monitoring for estimating the prognosis of patients with posterior circulation cerebral infarction

Posterior circulation cerebral infarction (PCCI) can lead to deceased infratentorial cerebral blood flow (CBF) and metabolism. Neural activity is closely related to regional cerebral blood flow both spatially and temporally. Transcranial Doppler (TCD) combined with quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) is a technique that evaluates neurovascular coupling and involves synergy between the metabolic and vascular systems. This study aimed to monitor brain function using TCD-QEEG and estimate the efficacy of TCD-QEEG for predicting the prognosis of patients with PCCI. We used a TCD-QEEG recording system to perform quantitative brain function monitoring; we recorded the related clinical variables simultaneously. The data were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the cut-off for the diastolic flow velocity (VD) and (delta+theta)/(alpha+beta) ratio (DTABR). The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) was calculated to assess the predictive validity of the study variables. Forty patients (aged 63.7±9.9 years; 30 men) were assessed. Mortality at 90 days was 40%. The TCD indicators of VD (hazard ratio [HR] 0.168, confidence interval [CI] 0.047–0.597, p=0.006) and QEEG indicators of DTABR (HR 12.527, CI 1.637–95.846, p=0.015) were the independent predictors of the clinical outcomes. The AUROC after combination of VD and DTABR was 0.896 and showed better predictive accuracy than the Glasgow Coma Scale score (0.75), VD (0.76), and DTABR (0.781; all p<0.05). TCD-QEEG provides a good understanding of the coupling mechanisms in the brain and can improve our ability to predict the prognosis of patients with PCCI.