Sonographic correlate of stationary waves

Abstract

Stationary waves are a rare and inconsistent angiographic finding that has been attributed to various causes, including angiographic artifact. We present 2 cases of patients with arterial occlusion in whom sonographic examination revealed a correlate of stationary waves that was present on angiography. This report is, to our knowledge, the first to document the phenomenon of stationary waves using an imaging modality other than angiography. If the sonographic findings presented here are accepted as a correlate of stationary waves, the phenomenon of stationary waves can no longer be considered a specific angiographic finding, and theories attributing the phenomenon to an angiographic artifact must be rejected.

Standing waves are not distinctive to conventional angiograms

“…1,2 Norton et al have reported standing waves on magnetic resonance imaging while Kroger et al have shown an angiographic correlation of the standing waves on ultrasonography. 3,4 These case reports, as well as our two cases, support the theory of standing waves being secondary to arterial flow-related physiologic changes and question the long-held belief that standing waves are specific to a conventional angiogram.…”

Standing waves in a patient with systemic scleroderma

“…However, this claim was questioned due to the widening of the walls as well [1][2][3]. The presence of standing waves as an artifact in classical angiography, or the effect caused by backflow after contrast administration, were naturally excluded due to reports of their occurrence also in magnetic resonance or sonographic examinations [2][3][4][5][6][7]. However, it seems, that Jacobsen et al, who developed an anisotropic model of the vessel, are the closest to explaining this phenomenon.…”

“…Buerger's disease or together with a local trauma [2,5]. However, the phenomenon, already described at the beginning of the previous century, remains shrouded in mystery and with time has been found in subsequent types of imaging examinations, not only angiography [6,7]. We present an interesting case of a 57-year-old woman with a non-healing wound on the hallux of her right foot, with a rich medical history, whose angiography showed standing waves along the entire length of the superficial femoral artery.…”