[Collateral circulation syndromes in the brachiocephalic artery system].

In 56 patients qualitative and quantitative characteristics of variants of collateral circulation in the system of occluded brachiocephalic arteries were studied. The objects of the studies were angiographic and clinical appearance of the variants of retrograde blood flow and the latter's connection with cerebral circulation. It was shown that the reversion of the blood flow from the Willis circle system was observed in 25% of patients with occlusive affections of the brachiocephalic arteries. The most frequent was the flow through the spinal arteries. The subclavicular steal syndrome led to cerebral circulation disturbances that manifested mostly in the form of transitory disturbances of the circulation in the vertebrobasilar and less often the carotid basins of the cerebral circulation. The neurological disturbances were the most specific in patients with isolated affections of the brachiocephalic stem or the subclavicular arteries. At the same time the intensity of the retrograde flow from the Willis circle system is regulated by the level of cerebral circulation, and depends on the degree of the vasocerebral insufficiency.