Color Doppler sonography of arteries associated with perforating veins

Background. It has been known for some time that perforating veins had asso ciated perforating arteries. There has been no way to investigate these art eries preoperatively. The newer high resolution ultrasonic devices enable u s to investigate these arteries. We are able to localize, determine the fre quency, and measure the size of the arteries associated with perforating ve ins of the lower extremities. Methods. All patients were studied in our clinical vascular laboratory. Pat ients: 55 patients with different degrees of varicosities were studied. Mea sures: Each patient had their perforating veins and arteries investigated w ith a 7.5 MHz linear array transducer (Siemens, Type Elegra). Results. 73% of the 233 perforating veins identified had an associated perf orating artery. No preferred localization of the perforating veins was note d. The number of location did not correlate with the presence or absence of incompetence of the veins. The perforating arteries were located in close proximity to the perforating veins but did not go far into the subcutaneous fat. The maximum systolic velocity was 12+/-8 cm/sec. Conclusions. The preoperative detection of perforating arteries associated with perforating veins is possible using a color Doppler scanner. Their pat hophysiological function and its relation to bleeding complications, wound healing and ulcer healing can be studied using this tool.