Guidelines for the assessment of diagnosis of superficial vein thrombosis and diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis

Diagnosis of superficial vein thrombosis If the purpose of the instrumental examination is to diagnosis a saphenous vein thrombosis, establishing its presence is not enough. It is necessary to verify its cranial extension. In the most frequent case of a localization at the great saphenous vein, the thrombosis can stop at the pre-ostial valve without affecting the ostial collateral veins, or it can extend up to the edges of the ostial valve with the elevated risk of a femoral vein thrombosis. This morphological in- formation can be obtained only from the echo-color-Doppler. The C.W. Doppler does not have to be used in this study, but neither does the echo-Doppler offer satisfying information compared to the color Doppler. The thrombus 3 cm away from the saphenous crosse is considered at risk. The same problem and the same diagnostic procedure are proposed for the superficial vein thrombosis of the calf. Plethysmography is not suited to this type of verifica- tion because it does not reveal any thrombus and becomes positive only in cases of complete thrombosis of the deep venous axis. Phlebography does not have a well-grounded indication in this clinical doubt. It allows the deep venous axis to be studied, but provides less information about the incom- plete thrombosis of the superficial veins.