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Color Duplex for Diagnosis of Venous Reflux

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Abstract

Venous reflux disease is the significant contributing pathology for limb swelling in the outpatient population. Reflux can occur at different degrees and levels, with presentation specific to each level and type of reflux. Understanding the entire pathophysiology and possible consequences is imperative in establishing an adequate treatment strategy. Currently, venous duplex ultrasound is the main diagnostic test used to characterize anatomy and physiology of lower extremity venous reflux.

This chapter will provide a simple understanding to the pathology of venous reflux disease and detail the appropriate technique for performing a reflux duplex study.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicos Labropoulos PhD, DIC, RVT .

Editor information

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Review Questions

Review Questions

  1. 1.

    All perforator blood flow is directed from the superficial to deep system except at the:

    1. a.

      Thigh

    2. b.

      Calf

    3. c.

      Abdomen

    4. d.

      Foot

  2. 2.

    The value that improves the reliability of venous duplex ultrasound in diagnosing reflux in the superficial system is:

    1. a.

      0.5 s

    2. b.

      1 s

    3. c.

      0.5 s

    4. d.

      2 s

  3. 3.

    For veins located 6 cm deep to the skin, the optimal transducer needed is:

    1. a.

      1 MHz

    2. b.

      3 MHz

    3. c.

      7 MHz

    4. d.

      10 MHz

  4. 4.

    The best position to achieve the standardized reflux value is:

    1. a.

      Prone

    2. b.

      Trendelenburg

    3. c.

      Standing

    4. d.

      Semi-sitting

Answer Key

  1. 1.

    d

  2. 2.

    a

  3. 3.

    b

  4. 4.

    c

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Mousa, A.Y., Labropoulos, N. (2017). Color Duplex for Diagnosis of Venous Reflux. In: AbuRahma, A. (eds) Noninvasive Vascular Diagnosis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54760-2_41

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54760-2_41

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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