Non-invasive assessment of cerebral blood flow and oxygenation in acute ischemic stroke by near-infrared spectroscopy

Background: Non-invasive monitoring of cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation might be of major importance in acute ischemic stroke. Methods: In 21 patients with acute infarction of the middle cerebral artery we assessed cerebral perfusion by monitoring kinetics of an intravenous bolus of indocyanine green (ICG), and tissue oxygenation 2.0±2.3 days after stroke onset with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). For ICG kinetics, bolus-peak-time, time-to-peak (TTP=time between 0% and 100% ICG maximum), maximum ICG concentration, rise time (time between 10% and 90% ICG maximum), slope (maximum ICG/time-to-peak), and blo…