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Impaired Cerebral Blood Flow Disorders Essays

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Impaired Cerebral Blood Flow Disorders

CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW

Impaired cerebral blood flow disorders are extremely common and factors such as the lesion site, existing collateral’s, and the amount of tissue affected determines the actual neurological deficit that results. The impaired blood flow may have a number of causes. Things such as alterations in blood pressure, changes in the arterial walls, and occlusions of the arterial lumen are some of the more important causes.

The brain is supplied with blood by two internal carotid arteries and two vertebral arteries. These arteries form the anastomosis known as the Circle of Willis. In 1951, two researchers, McDonald and Potter demonstrated that, "the blood supply to half of the …show more content…

A number of factors oppose this force such as, "a raised intracranial pressure, increased blood viscosity, and narrowing of the vascular diameter." Cerebral blood flow is relatively unchanged even with such opposing forces. This involves a special autoregulatory response. When arterial blood pressure drops, then the cerebral vascular resistance also is lowered. The opposite is also true to prevent a drastic increase in pressure within the cerebral vasculature. However, this autoregulatory system breaks down when the pressure falls very low.

The main factor influencing cerebrovascular resistance is the diameter of the cerebral blood vessels. The vessels are innervated by postganglionic sympathetic fibers. They will respond to norepinephrine, but apparently, this does not play a major part in controlling the vascular resistance. The two most important controlling substances are oxygen and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the most powerful vasodilator for cerebral blood vessels. Oxygen has strong vasoconstrictor effects on these vessels.

There are a number of things that produce cerebral ischemia, as was mentioned above. The first category includes those diseases that cause a change in blood pressure. First, an interruption of cerebral circulation. The brain is irreversibly damaged quickly following occlusion of the blood flow. "It has been estimated that neuronal function ceases

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