A Clinical and Experimental Determination of Pressure within the Carotid Arteries *

During the past fifteen years a new field of neurological surgery has been developed; this might be called intracranial vascular surgery. One of the most challenging problems in this field is the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. About 75% of these aneurysms' lie in or near the anterior half of the circle of Willis, receiving their major blood supply from the internal carotid arteries. Most of these anteriorly placed aneurysms can be localized precisely by angiography. We believe that those arising from the internal carotid arteries can be very favorably influenced by carotid ligation in the neck.8 The purpose of the present paper is to report on our studies of intracarotid pressures under various circumstances and to suggest a preliminary correlation of these data with probable forces acting upon intracranial aneurysms.