Color-coded duplex sonography for noninvasive diagnosis and grading of renal artery stenosis.

The accuracy of color-coded duplex sonography (CCDS) in screening hypertensive patients for renal artery stenosis (RAS) was assessed using a semi-quantitative waveform analysis. Our special aims were to separate between moderate and high grade stenoses and to evaluate the accuracy of the method in imaging both the whole course of the renal arteries and accessory renal arteries. Included in the prospective, angiographically controlled study were 135 consecutive patients with 268 renal arteries, of which 195 arteries (73%) could be visualized both proximally and distally by CCDS.

[Color-coded duplex sonography of liver tumors. Does the blood supply permit a conclusion on staging?].

Real-time ultrasonography is a sensitive screening method in patients with suspected liver tumors. However, sonomorphology does not differentiate between benign and malignant tumors. In a prospective study we examined patients with liver tumors with color-coded duplex ultrasonography to find out whether the perfusion status of the liver tumor permits a differential diagnosis.

[Diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis of the leg using color-coded duplex sonography].

One hundred and twenty-nine lower limbs in 103 patients with suspected deep leg vein or pelvic vein thrombosis were examined by colour-coded duplex sonography and the results compared with phlebography. The deep veins could be demonstrated from the popliteal to the distal external iliac vein and internal structure and blood-flow could be evaluated. The procedure can diagnose not only occluding thrombus, but also thrombus with surrounding blood flow and post-thrombotic changes.