Transcutaneous ultrasonic imaging in peripheral vascular diseases.
Imaging is an important method for studying vascular disease particularly if combined with pulsed Doppler.  The only situations where imaging alone may provide enough information to proceed with therapy is with aneurysmal disease and acute deep vein thrombosis. With these disorders, therapy is dependent on identifying the problem, its location, and extent.  When occlusive arterial disease is the problem, the need for therapy will depend on the degree of narrowing. At the present time, transcutaneous ultrasonic imaging alone is not adequate to determine the degree of stenosis.  Although there is no doubt that plaques can be seen on B-mode imaging, the extent to which they narrow the artery depends on an assessment of the flow velocity through the site of greatest narrowing.  This can be determined by using a pulsed Doppler that permits selective sampling of flow from any point within the visualized arterial segment.  While the procedure to be used will vary from one site to another within the arterial system, the basic principles are the same.  The amount of velocity increase within a stenosis is related to the extent to which the diameter of the artery is reduced.  The use of the duplex scanning method will permit an evaluation of both the arterial and venous systems at all sites accessible to this form of energy.
Department of Surgery, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 98195.
D E
DE
Strandness
D000368:Aged; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012078:Renal Artery Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods; D014945:Wound Healing