吉田 茂夫, 伊東 佳澄, 練合 泰明, 太田 るみこ, 福田 守道

Shigeo YOSHIDA, Kasumi ITOH, Yasuaki NERIAI, Rumiko OHTA, Morimichi FUKUDA

札幌医科大学機器診断部

Department of Ultrasound and Medical Diagnosis Sapporo Medical University

キーワード : Color Doppler energy, Color Doppler image, Duplex, Ultrasound, Vertebral artery

We evaluated the usefulness of the color Doppler energy mode (CDE) in the evaluation of the vertebral artery in a phantom model and in the clinic. CDE proved superior to color Doppler imaging (CDI) in the examination of phantoms, because of the continuity of its vessel images as well as its ability to measure vessel diameter in the optimal dynamic range and with the use of an appropriate filter. We tested both CDE and CDI in the clinic on the left vertebral artery between the fifth and sixth vertebrae in 5 healty volunteers and 12 subjects with carotid arterial disease, femoral arterial disease, or both. The subjecs were then examined with reconstructed three-dimensional enhanced CT, and the results obtained with CDE, CDI, and CT were compared. Images of vertebral arteries produced by CDE were superior to those produced by CDI. CDE provided enough detail to diagnose presence or absence of arterial stenosis in 75% of the subjects. Color Doppler energy mode thus proved highly useful in the evaluation of the vertebral artery.