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Diagnostic Ultrasound in Vascular Medicine
The South Sydney Vascular Centre has invested in state-of-the-art Diagnostic Ultrasound equipment, ongoing education and expert direction. Under the guidance of Vascular Technologist Neil Keller, SSVC ultrasound team takes great care with each patient to capture and transmit the best quality image possible for successful diagnosis.
How is Diagnostic Ultrasound used in vascular medicine?
Ultrasound is now routinely used to visualise and accurately detect and assess vascular disease, abdominal organs, and potential abnormalities of the heart as well as the neck and head, arms and legs.
Ultrasound examination is painless with no adverse effects, using a sound-conducting gel applied to the skin and moving a receptor like a Doppler probe across body areas to detect sound or echo frequencies and transmit them as images. This simplified definition describes how the ultrasound works; yet more importantly it depends on the skill and experience of the operator to seek and capture the most helpful images to allow successful diagnosis.
The four most common areas to use Diagnostic Ultrasound to assess Vascular conditions include:
Graft Surveillance Program
duplex scanning
Duplex scanning is able to detect the onset of stenosis within a bypass graft. This commonly occurs at the anastomotic junction with the native vessels but occasionally is seen at the site of a valve leaflet in the body of the graft. Once these abnormalities are identified a minor surgical procedure or an endovascular procedure may successfully treat the problem. Serial duplex ultrasound examination of bypass grafts has been shown to produce a 15% increase in the patency of grafts. As most problems occur within the first two years of surgery, grafts are scanned 3 months after the initial operation, then at 6 months, and then at 6 monthly intervals for a period of 2 years. Following this yearly scans are performed.
We welcome calls from referring physicians to ask about our Diagnostic Ultrasounds to help with assessment and treatment of any vascular condition. Feel free to contact us.