Noninvasive vascular testing in clinical practice.

Presented at the American College of Angiology, January 7, 1976, Palm Springs, Calif. Department of Radiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90048. Noninvasive vascular testing has proven to be an important addition to the evaluation of the patient with suspected or documented vascular disease. The ability to determine the hemodynamic significance of stenotic or obstructive lesions in the arterial system has been aptly demonstrated through the efforts of Strandess and others. 1-3 The noninvasive nature of the testing and the reproducibility of the results allows for periodic evaluation to determine the progression of arterial disease. Angiography has been and continues to be the definitive test prior to the performance of arterial surgery. However, the morbidity and cost associated with angiography does not allow it to be a method of screening or repetitive evaluation of patients with vascular disease. In addition, angiography does not provide significant information regarding the dynamics of blood flow in obstructive disease.