[Ultrasonic phlebography in circulatory failure]

Ultrasound phlebography was used in 67 patients with circulatory failure and 40 normal persons to study the linear parameters of the abdominal veins. The parallelism was revealed between the intensity of circulatory failure and reduction of the changes in the main venous vessels during the respiratory test with the body being in the horizontal and vertical positions. Ultrasound phlebography of the inferior vena cava and liver veins makes it possible to establish circulatory failure in the greater circulation at an early stage. The examination of the portal veins appeared to be of the informative value only at late stages of circulatory failure.