Was looking for further info, and found this article
http://www.jultrasoundmed.org/cgi/content/full/21/7/747
An interesting observation in articleInternal jugular valves are the only venous valves between the heart and the brain. Conditions such as coughing and other precipitating activities may result in retrograde cerebral venous flow because of the absence or presence of internal jugular valve incompetence, allowing brief transmission of high venous pressure and resulting in brain disturbance. Knowledge of these valves and their noninvasive evaluation might be useful in clinical practice. Methods. We applied air contrast ultrasonographic venography to a large sample of healthy subjects
My thoughts were that this procedure might be a first step for those of us not yet considering, or having difficulty getting, the MVR and Doppler--and especially for those of us that get severe reactions to the dyes and contrast agents used.However, color-coded duplex ultrasonography is unreliable and difficult to interpret, because venous flow might be disturbed as a result of pulsation of nearby arteries
Would this procedure in fact show the problems we are looking for?
Would appreciate feedback..