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Screening patients with claudication from femoropopliteal disease before angioplasty using Doppler colour flow imaging

Time, expense, risk and discomfort are incurred by arteriography in patients with intermittent claudication who might be candidates for percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). A valid screening technique could reduce the need for arteriography in patients found to have lesions not amenable to PTA. Agreement between Doppler colour flow imaging (DCFI) and angiography for detecting haemodynamically significant lesions is high, but DCFI may not identify lesions suitable for angioplasty. A total of 36 limbs in 30 patients were studied using DCFI before angiography. Agreement between the two methods was excellent (k = 0.91), and the predictive accuracy of DCFI for lesions amenable to PTA was good (k = 0.78, sensitivity 94 per cent, specificity 85 per cent, positive predictive value 83 per cent, negative predictive value 94 per cent, overall accuracy 89 per cent). DCFI is a useful screening process that may prevent unnecessary angiography, with consequent financial savings and clinical benefit.