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Should you stop wearing neckties?—wearing a tight necktie reduces cerebral blood flow

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Abstract

Purpose

Negative cerebrovascular effects can be expected by compressing jugular veins and carotids by a necktie. It was already demonstrated that a necktie increases intraocular pressure. In many professions, a special dress code including a necktie and a collared shirt is mandatory although little is known about the effect of this “socially desirable strangulation.”

Methods

In this study, the effect of wearing a necktie concerning cerebral blood flow and jugular venous flow by magnetic resonance imaging. Thirty volunteers were divided in two groups. One underwent MRI with necktie, the other without.

Results

The examination resulted in a statistically significant decrease of CBF after tightening the necktie (p < 0.001) while the venous flow did not show any significant changes.

Conclusion

It appears that wearing a necktie leads to a reduction in CBF.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robin Lüddecke.

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Funding

No funding was received for this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lüddecke, R., Lindner, T., Forstenpointner, J. et al. Should you stop wearing neckties?—wearing a tight necktie reduces cerebral blood flow. Neuroradiology 60, 861–864 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-018-2048-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-018-2048-7

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