J Korean Soc Vasc Surg.  2009 May;25(1):12-16.

The Usefulness of the Computed Tomography for Diagnosing DeepVenous Thrombosis of the Lower Extremities

• Yi JH
• Park SJ
• Kwon EK
• Oh YJ
• Kang TW
• Hwang JC
• Kang BS
• Choi SH
• Cho HR

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study aims to access the usefulness of indirect computed tomographic venography (CTV) after performing computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) to detect deep venous thrombosis.
METHODS
Eighty six patients who were diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. All the patients had CTPA & CTV performed within 24 hours after Doppler ultrasound (US). The CTV was compared with Doppler US for their ability to diagnose DVT. Pulmonary embolism (PE) and other findings that were detected by CTPA & CTV were analyzed.
RESULTS
Among 86 patients, 83 had thrombi detected by Doppler US. CTV did not detect DVT in 11 of the 83 patients. Among the 11 patients, 8 had below the knee thrombosis, which was not in the scan area of CTV. In 2 patients, their Doppler US results could not be guaranteed. One case was a false positive result on Doppler US. The results for determining the thrombi level between Doppler US and CTV were roughly concordant. In addition to DVT or PE, 32 new lesions in 27 patients were incidentally detected by CTPA & CTV.
CONCLUSION
Compared with Doppler US, CTPA & CTV are not inferior to detect DVT of the lower extremities and these modalities can also provide information about incidental disease, as well as pulmonary embolism.

Keyword

Deep venous thrombosis; Pulmonary embolism; Ultrasonics; X-ray computed tomography

MeSH Terms

Angiography
Benzoates
Heterocyclic Compounds
Humans
Knee
Lower Extremity
Phlebography
Pulmonary Embolism
Retrospective Studies
Thrombosis
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Ultrasonics
Venous Thrombosis
Benzoates
Heterocyclic Compounds