Colour duplex in assessing the infrainguinal arteries in patients with claudication

Non-invasive assessment of the lower-limb vasculature may avoid unnecessary arteriography. Colour duplex scanning of the femoral and popliteal arteries was performed in claudicants who were potential candidates for endoluminal therapy. This was compared with the findings of biplanar conventional arteriography and intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography. In 112 lower limbs duplex gave the following results compared with angiography: the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy for occlusions (n = 48), stenoses (n = 31), atheromatous vessel (n = 21) and disease-free (n = 12) were all greater or equal to 94%. The lengths of the occlusions were accurately identified by duplex. Clinical examination and spectral analysis at the common femoral artery failed to identify two patients who had an iliac lesion. Colour duplex examination is the investigation of choice in assessing the major infrainguinal arteries in patients with claudication.