Background: The incidence of deep venous thrombosis is 0.6/1000 habitants and when symptomatic its diagnosis by duplex scan has 100% sensitivity and 98% specificity.

Objectives: To describe the findings and evaluate appropriateness of a carotid artery study including the measurement of IMT, the presence of atherosclerotic plaque, and their correlation with cardiovascular risk factors.Methods: 555 patients (220 men; 67.06 ± 12.44 years) were included in the study. 120 patients (21.62%) presented carotid plaque: 108 (19.45%) in patients with at least one risk factor and 12 (2.1%) in patients without risk factors. With respect to appropriateness of the present studies: 65% were appropriate, 22% were uncertain and 13% were inappropriate. The IMT medians were higher in males (0.0280; 95% CI, 00.82 to 0.478; p = 0.0057) and in hypertensive patients (0.391; 95% CI, 0.0190 to 0.0592; p = 0,001). There was a linear increase in mean IMT for each year increased in age (0.0059; 95% CI; 0.0050 to 0.0067). Carotid plaque was more frequent in patients with CAD (p = 0.0002), diabetes (p = 0.024) and hypertension (p = 0.036). Conclusion:Assessment of carotid arteries identified increased incidence of plaque in patients with CAD, diabetes and hypertension. IMT was increased in older patients, hypertensive patients and males. Forty-five percent of the patients were studied based on uncertain and inappropriate reasons.

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Objective: To determine the prevalence of small saphenous vein reflux (SSVR) in patients with uncomplicated varicose veins, using color-flow Doppler ultrasonography.Method: Over an 18-month period, a total of 1,953 patients underwent color-flow Doppler ultrasonography for evaluation of venous disease. Out of the total, 1,631 patients with primary uncomplicated varicose veins were selected for this study: 1,383 (84.79%) patients were female and 248 (15.21%) were male. Mean age was 42.9 (± 0.48) years, ranging from 13 to 85 years. Of the 1,631 patients, 1,323 underwent bilateral examination and 308 unilateral examination, for a total of 2,954 lower limbs with primary uncomplicated varicose veins studied. The number of right lower limbs studied was 1,461 and the number of left lower limbs was 1,493. All exams were carried out using the same protocol.Result: Out of the total number of 2,954 limbs, SSVR was detected 372 (12.59%) limbs. Prevalence of SSVR in males was 14.08% and in females was 12.35%. SSVR was detected in the right lower limb in 12.05% and in left lower limb in 13.13% of the cases. SSVR was significantly more common in patients older than 60 years.Conclusion: SSVR is relatively common and its presence should always be investigated in patients with primary lower limb varicose veins. Resultado: Dos 2.954 membros inferiores avaliados, 372 (12,59%) apresentaram refluxo em veia safena parva. A prevalência nos homens foi de 14,08% e, nas mulheres, de 12,35%. O refluxo da safena parva foi maior no membro inferior esquerdo (13.13%) do que no direito (12,05%). A prevalência do refluxo foi significativamente maior nos pacientes acima de 60 anos.Conclusão: O refluxo da veia safena parva é relativamente comum, e sua pesquisa deve ser sempre realizada em pacientes com varizes primárias de membros inferiores.

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Background: Symptoms and clinical signs suggestive of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are common but may have numerous possible causes. Objectives: 1) To identify the most frequent clinical symptoms and correlate them with duplex ultrasound scan (DS) findings; 2) to identify high-risk clinical conditions for DVT; and 3) to evaluate time since the onset of symptoms and DS examination. Methods: A total of 528 patients with a clinical suspicion of DVT were evaluated by DS performed by experienced vascular ultrasonographists. Results: DVT was present in 192 (36.4%) of the patients. The external iliac vein was involved in 53 patients (10.04%), the femoral veins in 110 (20.83%), the popliteal vein in 124 (23.48%), and veins below the knee were involved in 157 (29.73%) of the cases. Limb swelling was present in 359 cases (68%), and 303 (57.4%) complained of pain. Sixty nine patients received a DS due to suspected or proven pulmonary embolism (PE); 79 patients were in postoperative period. In the multivariate analysis, independent risk factors for DVT included age>65 years (OR=1.49; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.01-2.18; p=0.042), edema (OR=2.83; 95%CI 1.72-4.65; p<0.001), pain (OR=1.99; 95%CI 1.3-3.05; p=0.002), cancer (OR=2.32; 95%CI 1. p<0.001), and PE (OR=2.62; p=0.008).Time since the onset of symptoms did not differ between the groups. Conclusions: In the present study, 36.4% of the patients referred to DS had DVT. Age > 65 years, presence of limb swelling, pain, cancer, and suspected or proven PE should be considered as major risk factors for DVT.