Abstract
Objective:
Identification of isolated superficial venous incompetence (SVI) in patients with clinically diagnosed venous leg ulcers using a computerized strain-gauge plethysmograph.
Design:
Ambulatory leg ulcer patients were assessed as to the clinical diagnosis. Diagnoses other than venous ulceration were excluded.
Setting:
Department of Dermatology, Sahlgrenska Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
Patients:
One hundred and fourteen patients (133 legs) with venous leg ulcers were investigated.
Main outcome measures:
All patients were also investigated by measuring systolic ankle and arm pressure measurements. The ankle/arm (AI) was below 0.9 in 22 of the 133 ulcerated legs.
Results:
Of the 111 ulcerated legs with an AI>0.9, 10% had an isolated SVI.
Conclusions:
Isolated SVI is an important cause of venous leg ulcer development. Strain-gauge plethysmography is an inexpensive screening method, and is easy to use. Further examination with the more exact, but also more expensive and time-consuming, colour duplex should be performed in selected cases.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.