Techniques of intraoperative cerebral blood flow measurement.

Understanding the physiological mechanisms of cerebral blood flow (CBF) is of great importance to neurosurgeons engaged in the management of patients with cerebrovascular disease. Over the past 50 years, techniques to measure CBF and mathematical methods to calculate CBF have evolved substantially. For the cerebrovascular surgeon, intraoperative CBF monitoring is an important adjunct in certain intra- and extracranial procedures. The authors review current techniques in use for the intraoperative measurement of CBF.