DOPPLER GUIDE-WIRE - EARLY CLINICAL-EXPER IENCE WITH ANGIOPLASTY OF PERIPHERAL VESSELS

Forty-two patients underwent endoluminal Doppler examination of blood flow velocity proximally, at the stenosis and distal to it by means of a 0.018 in. Doppler guide wire. The method was found to be an accurat e tool for documentation of a wide spectrum of stenoses of different m orphology. The changes induced by percutaneous transluminal angioplast y (PTA) - hemodynamic changes as well as vascular wall lesions - could be documented precisely. Remaining stenoses after PTA were precisely verified as compared to angiography. In multiple stenoses or in stenos es with pure run-off, the hemodynamic significance of the lesion was e valuated. Intravascular Doppler flow measurement is valuable in angiog raphically imprecise cases. The method fits well into the angiographic routine examination.