[Digital peripheral angiography with pace shifting and subtraction. Comparison with the standard procedure]

In a prospective randomised study including 60 patients digital peripheral angiography with stepping and subtraction (DPSA) was compared to DPA without subtraction (DPA), DSA without stepping and conventional angiography. Using conventional angiography, complementary series were necessary in 8 out of 20 patients. This number could be reduced to 3 out of 20 patients using DPSA and DSA respectively. Examination time could thus be shortened by about 20%. The amount of contrast medium could also be reduced by 15 to 20%. Both digital subtraction techniques supplied superior image quality especially in the lower limb in comparison with conventional and digital peripheral angiography without subtraction. X-ray exposure was similar for conventional angiography and DPSA. DSA without subtraction revealed a three times increased dose. Our results indicate that DPA with the possibility of image subtraction is a desirable new technique and might become the method of choice in peripheral angiography in the future.