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Color Doppler and duplex sonography in 5 patients with thoracic outlet syndrome
R Wadhwani1, N Chaubal, R Sukthankar
1Department of Radiology, P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Mumbai, India.
Purpose:
To evaluate the use of color Doppler sonography in the diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome.
Methods:
We studied color Doppler sonographic findings in 5 clinically suspected cases of thoracic outlet syndrome. The subclavian artery and vein were studied in varying degrees of abduction to assess the severity of the syndrome.
Results:
Significant changes, i.e., stages of increased velocities, preocclusion, and occlusion in the subclavian artery in varying degrees of abduction, were noted in 4 of 5 cases. Blunted flow in the axillary artery (4 patients) and a rebound increase in velocities on release of abduction were noted in 3 patients. These changes suggested that significant narrowing was causing symptoms.
Conclusion:
Color Doppler sonography is a noninvasive, effective method compared with digital subtraction angiography in the diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome.