COLOR DOPPLER ULTRASOUND IN DIAGNOSING VENOUS INSUFFICIENCY A COMPARISON TO DESCENDING PHLEBOGRAPHY

Objective: To evaluate the technique of ultrasound colour Doppler in d iagnosing venous valvular incompetence in the lower leg. Design: Prosp ective clinical study. Setting: Department of clinical physiology. Mat erials: 44 patients (56 legs) referred with a clinical diagnosis of de ep venous insufficiency. Chief outcome measures: Colour Doppler and de scending phlebography. Main results: Using phlebography as a ''gold st andard'' the accuracy of the colour Doppler technique varied between 9 3% and 55% for the different veins. For the superficial and deep femor al veins, the popliteal vein and the long and short saphenous veins th e accuracy was between 90% and 70%. The lowest correlation was found f or the deep calf veins (55-66% accuracy). Conclusions: Colour Doppler was found to be a suitable technique for non-invasive investigation of patients with suspected venous insufficiency Since the colour Doppler technique is non-invasive it is well suited for follow-up studies. De scending phlebography should be reserved as an adjunct technique in pa tients scheduled for valve reconstructive surgery.