Noninvasive Vascular Diagnostic Laboratory
73 NONINVASIVE VASCULAR DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY
Darrell N. Jones Ph.D.
1. What is the role of the vascular diagnostic laboratory (VDL) in the assessment and treatment of patients with suspected vascular disease?
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Although traditional evaluation by an experienced clinician remains the foundation of vascular diagnosis, clinical assessment has its limitations. For example, only one third of cervical bruits are associated with significant carotid artery disease; conversely, as many as two thirds of patients with severe carotid disease present without a cervical bruit. Half of patients with extensive deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the lower extremity lack signs and symptoms referable to the lower extremities, and more than half of patients presenting with clinical signs of DVT are venographically normal. As many as 40% of diabetic patients have no large-vessel peripheral arterial occlusive disease. The VDL provides objective, quantitative, and functional status data to delineate the severity of extracranial cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial occlusive disease, and acute and chronic venous disease.
2. What differentiates the VDL from diagnostic radiology and ultrasound?
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The VDL provides functional information rather than or in addition to the morphologic data provided by radiology tests and general ultrasound images. This information is particularly important for peripheral arterial occlusive disease, in which anatomic information about the site of stenosis or occlusion is of limited value without knowledge of the functional significance.
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Abernathy’s Surgical Secrets, Updated Edition (Book w / Student Consult)
Author / s: Harken Alden H., Abernathy Charles, Moore Ernest Eugene
Year: 2004
Pages: 473
Publishers: Elsevier Mosby; 5th Bk & Acc edition
ISBN: 0323034160
