RESUMEN
Clinical examination combined with angiography is conventionally used to assess lower limb arterial disease. The shape of the blood velocity wave form in the common femoral artery varies with the extent of proximal arterial disease, suggesting that wave-form analysis may provide additional haemodynamic information of potential value in surgical decision-making. This paper studies the use of two methods of wave-form analysis, pulsatility index and Laplace transform analysis, to assess lower limb arterial disease. The blood velocity wave form was measured non-invasively at the common femoral artery using a locally developed mean frequency processor and a commercial 9.5 MHz bidirectional Doppler ultrasound unit. Wave forms from 70 limbs (35 patients) with suspected atherosclerotic arterial disease and from 20 normal limbs with no history or signs of disease were studied. Both methods of wave-form analysis provided a statistically significant separation between patients with severe and moderate disease as assessed angiographically (P less than 0.001). These results suggest that significant aorto-iliac disease can be virtually excluded by a normal common femoral wave form. Furthermore, wave-form analysis may have an important role in the follow-up of patients after bypass grafting or iliac angioplasty and in the detection of presymptomatic aorto-iliac disease.
