Signal-enhanced color Doppler sonography of deep venous thrombosis in the lower limbs and pelvis.

Detection of Doppler signal tends to be more difficult in peripheral veins owing to low flow velocity. This can be caused by nonoccluding thrombosis, post-thrombotic wall changes, or a deep anatomic location of pelvic veins. The last-mentioned frequently is accompanied by interference by bowel gas. In addition, inappropriate insonation angles adversely affect the outcome of color-coded Doppler interrogation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of signal-enhanced color Doppler sonography on peripheral veins in 31 patients clinically suspected of having deep vein thrombosis. As a result of diagnostic uncertainty, additional enhanced studies were performed on 43 venous segments. The enhancement led to a decrease in false-positive results (from four patients to one patient) and false-negative results (from four patients to two patients) compared to unenhanced studies. Evaluation of the deeply located pelvic veins profited the most through signal enhanced Doppler sonography.