Abstract
The report on “Audible handheld Doppler ultrasound and peripheral arterial disease” is very interesting. 1 Alavi et al. 1 reported that “Audible handheld Doppler ultrasound proved to be a reliable, simple, rapid, and inexpensive bedside exclusion test of peripheral arterial disease in diabetic and nondiabetic patients.” Focusing on the present report, it seems that the diagnostic property of the tool is only fair, and the sensitivity is low. According to the previous report, the ultrasound has problems in “detecting occluded segments.” 2 Finally, the cost effectiveness of the technique should also be discussed. The audible handheld Doppler ultrasound might not available in remote poor setting, and it might be difficult to use. General physician might not be able to interpret the ultrasound result. 3