An unusual gait disorder at the Emergency Department: role of the quantitative assessment of parenchymal transcranial Doppler sonography

摘要

Parenchymal transcranial Doppler sonography (pTCS) has become a reliable and sensitive diagnostic technique, enabling a two-dimensional visualization of the main brain structures through the temporal bone (1). The growing application of this exam helps the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of a wide range of neurological diseases, especially movement disorders. pTCS is easily available and applicable, non-invasive, painless, cost effective, and quick to perform at the bedside, even in scarcely collaborating patients or in those with involuntary movements, because head motion can be well compensated by the operator, at least to some extent (2). These features make pTCS an useful additional tool for movement disorders, particularly in the case of challenging diagnoses or doubtful clinical presentations.