TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Physiologic and Other Tests for Venous Evaluation A1 - Weiss, Robert A. A1 - Weiss, Margaret A. A1 - Beasley, Karen L. Y1 - 2012 N1 - T2 - Sclerotherapy and Vein Treatment, 2e AB - When symptoms of venous pathology are recognized or suspected, the underlying etiology can be rapidly assessed by visual examination according to patterns discussed in Chapter 5. Duplex ultrasound can confirm the physical examination via direct visualization of varicosities below the skin surface; however, careful diagnostic evaluation is necessary if one is to understand the particular venous hemodynamics of an individual patient. These tests are important to understand in terms of venous physiology. Although Duplex ultrasound can identify sites of valvular incompetence, photoplethysmography (PPG) and other forms of plethysmography offer a simple, reproducible technique to examine the physiologic significance of those findings and to correlate them with the patient’s symptoms. The historical importance of PPG is important enough to include in this text. It need not be reiterated that the continuous wave Doppler is analogous to the stethoscope, the plethysmographic test analogous to an electrocardiograph (EKG), and the duplex ultrasound equivalent to an echocardiogram. The availability of small, compact, high-resolution ultrasound machinery has made the Duplex ultrasound exam the new standard of care. SN - PB - McGraw Hill LLC CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - dermatology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1175620396 ER -