Background: Although flow velocities of basal cerebral arteries have been reported to be associated with age, the exact cause of the age dependency of flow velocities has not been elucidated. Methods: We recruited patients presenting with an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Averaged mean flow velocity of both MCAs (amFV) was calculated using transcranial Doppler examination. The association between quartiles of amFV and pulse wave velocity (PWV) was tested with ordinal regression analyses. Results: Forty-eight patients (32 males, 56.73±12.29 years), 10 with TIA and 38 with ischemic strokes, were included. PWVs for the heart-carotid, carotid-brachial, right heart brachial, left brachial-ankle, and heart-femoral had inverse association with ordinal amFV. Finally heart-carotid pulse wave velocity was significantly associated with quartiles of amFV after adjustment of covariates. Conclusions: Arterial stiffness was inversely associated with the cerebral blood flow velocity of the MCA. The association between arterial stiffness and cerebral blood flow velocity showed regional difference. Journal of Neurosonology 1(1):39-45, 2009

Key Words: Blood flow velocity, Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound, Arterial stiffness, Pulse wave velocity, Cerebral infarction