Is there still a place for transcranial Doppler in patients with IABP?

Transcranial Doppler (TCD), a relatively inexpensive and noninvasive tool, is often used to identify emboli, stenosis, vasospasm, brain death, and cerebral autoregulation (CA) [1]. When monitoring patients with intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), the largest study published with TCD did not show neurological complications or deterioration of CA [2], but the occurrence of abnormal reverse cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) was not investigated.