Objective To investigate the degree of vascular damage in patients with hypertension in various stages with transcranial Doppler (TCD), so as to provide references for the prevention and treatment of obstructive cerebral vascular disease. Methods TCD was adopted to examine bilateral anterior cerebral arteries (ACA), terminal internal carotid arteries (TICA), vertebral arteries (VA) and basal arteries (BA) in patients with hypertension (n=176) and normotensive individuals as control group (n=60). The hemodynamic data of two groups were analyzed statistically. Results In patients with stage Ⅰ hypertension, the blood stream velocity was increased in all intracranial vessels, especially in MCM and TICA. In patients with stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ hypertension, the elevation of blood pressure was followed by the decrease of blood stream velocity, especially in MCA, TICA and BA. The rate of abnormality as detected by TCD was 90 and 96 in patients with stage Ⅱ and Ⅲof hypertension, respectively. Conclusions The abnormal findings of cerebral vessels as detected by TCD seem to coincide with the clinical characters of stroke. TCD findings may be used as an early forewarning index of obstructive cerebral disease.