CONTINUOUS VENOUS ECHO-DOPPLER FOR THE DI AGNOSIS OF DEEP-VEIN THROMBOSIS OF THE LOWER-LIMBS EVALUATION IN SYMPTOMATIC PATIENTS

Objectives: A prospective study of deep vein thrombosis was conducted to compare diagnosis with venous echo Doppler and phlebography in 101 hospitalized patients with symptomatic lower limbs. Methods: Phlebogra phy was used as the reference examination to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of echo-Doppler for lesions at all levels of the limb. Results: Overall sensitivity was 90% and specificity 72%. The prevale nce of venous thrombosis was 50% symptomatic patients and the positive predictive value of echo-Doppler was 76%. The negative predictive val ue was 88%. For patients with proximal signs, there were no false nega tives with echo-Doppler and for those with distal signs, particularly in patients who had recently undergone surgery, were obese or had a pa st history of deep vein thrombosis echo-Doppler gave less satisfactory results. Conclusion: Echo-Doppler can be proposed as a first intentio n examination for the search for deep vein thrombosis in patients with clinical signs in the proximal area of the leg, while phlebography is still required for more distal areas.