[Is photoreflexometry valid as a diagnostic method in the physician's office]

The results of measurements of photoreflexometry (PRM) in 1852 patients in phlebological consultations were broken down statistically. These were patients who had come to consultation of their own free will or who had been sent by their G.P. for an ambulatory phlebological examination. The authors assess the interpretative possibilities of PRM in treatment. They were particularly interested in the question of knowing whether or not PRM is capable of exposing a postphlebitic syndrome. In 9, 1% of these cases, a control phlebography was necessary. In a quarter of these patients, the previous diagnosis of "post-phlebitic syndrome" did not match the result of the phlebography. In each of these cases the deep veins were permeable and it was simply a matter of the incompetence of the deep axes.