Arterial flow in venous volume studies.
The rate of venous refilling after exercise is commonly used in noninvasive exercise tests to assess chronic venous regurgitation. Volume refilling is the sum of venous regurgitation and arterial blood flow. Our hypothesis is that volume data do not accurately measure regurgitation unless blood flow is known. Foot volume data after exercise and elevation were obtained, using the mercury-in-silastic strain gauge, for 68 control and 131 extremities with venous disease. Measured values for the time of half-volume refilling were compared to values corrected for arterial flow. The arterial flow accounted for virtually half the volume change, but showed wide and unpredictable variations. Corrected times of half-volume refilling had significantly narrower variations and regurgitation was better estimated (p less than 0.001). For regurgitation to be comparable between patients or over time in venous volume tests, arterial flow must be determined.
Peirce
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EC
Schanzer
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D001810:Blood Volume; D005080:Exercise Test; D005528:Foot / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D010991:Plethysmography; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D014680:Veins