Abstract
One-hundred-and-eleven consecutive patients who were referred for routine phlebography because of clinically suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT) were also investigated with a new, simplified, computerized strain-gauge plethysmograph (Phlebotest, Eureka AB). An occlusion plethysmograph curve was obtained from each leg simultaneously. Four different numerical parameters were defined and determined from this curve. These parameters were correlated with the phlebographic diagnosis. Three of the parameters of the plethysmograph curve correlated well with the phlebographic diagnosis, which proved correct in 54 patients without DVT, including two false negative cases, and in 12 patients with thrombosis. In 45 patients, plethysmography alone was not sufficient to establish a diagnosis. The plethysmograph described is easy to handle and is suggested for use in selecting those patients, with or without thrombosis, who do not require supplementary phlebography.
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