title: Comparison between clinical examination, cw-Doppler ultrasound and colour-duplex sonography in the diagnosis of incompetent perforating veins.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to investigate the accuracy and agreement between clinical examination, continuous wave (cw)-Doppler ultrasound and colour-duplex sonography (CDS) in diagnosing incompetent perforating veins (ICPV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) were examined clinically, by hand-held cw-Doppler ultrasound in combination with tourniquet compression and CDS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The low accuracy of the clinical examination and the diagnosis of ICPV by cw-Doppler were surprising. The specificity was 15% and sensitivity 29%, when CDS was taken as the "gold standard". Furthermore the results show clearly that the application of a tourniquet cannot provide reliable results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with CVI, clinical and cw-Doppler cannot accurately diagnose ICPV when compared to CDS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schultheiss
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Billeter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bollinger
authors.forename: U K
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Franzeck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex; D014689:Venous Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging