Diagnosis of venous disorders using impedance plethysmography

Impedance plethysmography (IPG) was carried out in one hundred and forty-one patients suspected of venous disorders using Parulkar's method. In these patients occlusive impedance phlebography (OIP) and venography were also carried out using standard procedures. Comparison of IPG and OIP observations with venographic findings revealed sensitivity of these methods to be 65% and 77.7% in the diagnosis of primary varicosity of veins and chronic deep vein thrombosis respectively with a specificity of 85%. Occlusive impedance phlebograms showing unilateral decrease in OIP parameters were observed to be sufficiently diagnostic. IPG observations in 5 patients with arterio-venous malformation were observed to be different from those in patients with deep vein thrombosis.