Introduction: Changes in cerebral autoregulatory mechanism has been observed during cognitive stimulation task as reflected in changes of mean flow velocity (MFV) that can be measured using transcranial doppler (TCD). The purpose of this study was to compare the anterior cerebral arteries (ACA) MFV changes during cognitive stimulation using TCD in normal and post stroke people.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving normal and post stroke people at least 3 months after stroke onset in Neurology Departement Adam Malik General Hospital. From August to December 2016, all subject underwent TCD examination to assess baseline characteristic both side of ACA, then the patients were  stimulated using Stroop Task as one of the tool in cognitive stimulation that correlates with cognitive domains, especially executive and attention domain. During stimulation, we measured changes in MFV that correlated with cerebral autoregulation in these two groups.

Results: The study recruited 13 post stroke patients and 13 non stroke subjects. Paired student t-test used for evaluating the difference in baseline and during stimulation for each normal group and post stroke group while independent t-test was used too determine the MFV changes difference between both groups. Using 95% Confidence Interval (CI 95%), there are significant differences for MFV changes in each artery for normal group [R-ACA(p=0.001), L-ACA(p=0.001)] and post stroke group [R-ACA (p=0.001), L-ACA(p=0.001)]. Meanwhile, there is no significant difference for MFV changes between groups [R-ACA (p=0.374) and L-ACA(0.272)].

 

Conclusion: There are significant differences in MFV changes between baseline and during stimulation in each artery, yet there are no significant differences in MFV changes between normal patients and post stroke patients groups.

Keywords: Transcranial Doppler, Mean Flow Velocity, Post Stroke, Cognitive Stimulation, Stroop Task