Vascular Studies

Overview

What are Vascular Studies?

Decreased blood flow can occur in the arteries and veins anywhere in the body, such as the neck and brain. When the neck arteries (carotid arteries) become occluded, symptoms such as dizziness, confusion, drowsiness, headache, and/or a brief loss of ability to speak or move, may be the early warning signs of a possible stroke (brain attack). More severe symptoms, such as sudden sharp headache, loss of vision in one eye, sudden loss of ability to move arms, legs, or one side of the body, sudden forceful vomiting, or sudden decreased level of consciousness may mean that a stroke is imminent.

If your physician suspects you may have decreased blood flow somewhere in your peripheral (arms, legs, and/or neck) circulation, he/she may schedule you for vascular studies. Vascular studies are a noninvasive (the skin is not pierced) procedure used to assess the blood flow in arteries and veins. A transducer (like a microphone) sends out ultrasonic sound waves at a frequency too high to be heard. When the transducer is placed on your skin at certain locations and angles, the ultrasonic sound waves move through the skin and other body tissues to the blood vessels, where the waves echo off of the blood cells. The transducer picks up the reflected waves and sends them to an amplifier, which makes the ultrasonic sound waves audible.

If pulse volume recordings (PVRs) are done, blood pressure cuffs are inflated on the limb and blood pressure in the limb is measured using the doppler transducer. To assess the carotid arteries in the neck, a carotid duplex scan may be performed. This type of doppler examination provides a 2-dimensional image of the arteries so that the structure of the arteries and location of an occlusion can be determined, as well as the degree of blood flow.

Reasons for the Procedure

Vascular studies may be performed for, but not limited to, the following reasons:

• to evaluate signs and symptoms which may suggest decreased blood flow in the arteries and/or veins of the neck, legs, or arms
  
  
• to evaluate previous procedures that were performed to restore blood flow to an area
  
  
• to evaluate a vascular dialysis device, such as an A-V fistula in the arm.

Risks of the Procedure

No known risks.

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