ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

International Angiology 2000 September;19(3):228-230

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Color Doppler sonography of arteries associated with perforating veins

Kröger K., Massalha K., Rudofsky G.

From the Clinic for Angiology, Essen Clinic, Germany

Background. It has been known for some time that per­fo­rat­ing veins had asso­ciat­ed per­fo­rat­ing arter­ies. There has been no way to inves­ti­gate these arter­ies pre­op­er­a­tive­ly. The newer high res­o­lu­tion ultra­son­ic devic­es ­enable us to inves­ti­gate these arter­ies. We are able to local­ize, deter­mine the fre­quen­cy, and meas­ure the size of the arter­ies asso­ciat­ed with per­fo­rat­ing veins of the lower extrem­ities.
Methods. All ­patients were stud­ied in our clin­i­cal vas­cu­lar labor­a­to­ry. Patients: 55 ­patients with dif­fer­ent ­degrees of var­i­cos­ities were stud­ie. Measures: Each ­patient had their per­fo­rat­ing veins and arter­ies inves­ti­gat­ed with a 7.5 MHz lin­e­ar array trans­duc­er (Siemens, Type Elegra).
Results. 73% of the 233 per­fo­rat­ing veins iden­ti­fied had an asso­ciat­ed perforat­ing ­artery. No pre­ferred local­iza­tion of the per­fo­rat­ing veins was noted. The num­ber of loca­tion did not cor­re­late with the pres­ence or ­absence of incom­pe­tence of the veins. The per­fo­rat­ing arter­ies were locat­ed in close prox­im­ity to the per­fo­rat­ing veins but did not go far into the sub­cu­ta­ne­ous fat. The max­i­mum sys­tol­ic veloc­ity was 12±8 cm/sec.
Conclusions. The pre­op­er­a­tive detec­tion of per­fo­rat­ing arter­ies asso­ciat­ed with per­fo­rat­ing veins is pos­sible using a color Doppler scan­ner. Their path­o­phy­sio­log­i­cal func­tion and its rela­tion to bleed­ing com­pli­ca­tions, wound heal­ing and ulcer heal­ing can be stud­ied using this tool.Background. It has been known for some time that per­fo­rat­ing veins had asso­ciat­ed per­fo­rat­ing arter­ies. There has been no way to inves­ti­gate these arter­ies pre­op­er­a­tive­ly. The newer high res­o­lu­tion ultra­son­ic devic­es ­enable us to inves­ti­gate these arter­ies. We are able to local­ize, deter­mine the fre­quen­cy, and meas­ure the size of the arter­ies asso­ciat­ed with per­fo­rat­ing veins of the lower extrem­ities.
Methods. All ­patients were stud­ied in our clin­i­cal vas­cu­lar labor­a­to­ry. Patients: 55 ­patients with dif­fer­ent ­degrees of var­i­cos­ities were stud­ie. Measures: Each ­patient had their per­fo­rat­ing veins and arter­ies inves­ti­gat­ed with a 7.5 MHz lin­e­ar array trans­duc­er (Siemens, Type Elegra).
Results. 73% of the 233 per­fo­rat­ing veins iden­ti­fied had an asso­ciat­ed perforat­ing ­artery. No pre­ferred local­iza­tion of the per­fo­rat­ing veins was noted. The num­ber of loca­tion did not cor­re­late with the pres­ence or ­absence of incom­pe­tence of the veins. The per­fo­rat­ing arter­ies were locat­ed in close prox­im­ity to the per­fo­rat­ing veins but did not go far into the sub­cu­ta­ne­ous fat. The max­i­mum sys­tol­ic veloc­ity was 12±8 cm/sec.
Conclusions. The pre­op­er­a­tive detec­tion of per­fo­rat­ing arter­ies asso­ciat­ed with per­fo­rat­ing veins is pos­sible using a color Doppler scan­ner. Their path­o­phy­sio­log­i­cal func­tion and its rela­tion to bleed­ing com­pli­ca­tions, wound heal­ing and ulcer heal­ing can be stud­ied using this tool.