[Color-coded Doppler sonography for phlebothrombosis]

Abstract

Between November 1988 and February 1990, a total of 180 patients (76 men and 104 women; mean age 59 [17-79] years), suspected of having sustained a deep-vein or pelvic thrombosis were examined by colour Doppler ultrasound, the results being compared with those obtained by conventional phlebography. For 154 phlebographically confirmed acute venous thromboses (demonstrated by colour Doppler ultrasound in 153), four older thromboses (colour Doppler ultrasound: 7), and 22 without significant venous disease (colour Doppler ultrasound: 20), the specificity for colour Doppler ultrasound was 99%, its sensitivity 94%. In 49 patients with confirmed venous thrombosis thrombolytic treatment was started with 250,000 IU urokinase, followed by 62,500 IU hourly, the results being assessed by colour Doppler ultrasound and phlebography. This gave a specificity, compared with phlebography, of 99%, and a sensitivity of 97%. These data indicate that, in the diagnosis of venous thrombosis of the legs, colour Doppler ultrasound noninvasively provides information at least as reliable as phlebography. It may even be superior to phlebography in the demonstration of residual flow in partly thrombosed veins.