Vascular imaging

The use of vascular ultrasonography (alone or combined with newer techniques like angio-magnetic resonance or angio-computed tomography) is an essential tool for the diagnosis and the assessment of vascular diseases. It is also useful for the follow-up after surgical or endovascular interventions (avoiding the need to use angiography in any therapeutic decision in most cases). The integration of two-dimensional echocardiography, colour flow imaging and spectral Doppler makes the morphological and functional assessment of vascular disease possible in almost every territory.For a long time, vascular ultrasonography was exclusively performed by non-cardiologists. Nowadays, in modern echo laboratories, vascular echography is frequently performed by cardiologists, often in cooperation with vascular surgeons and radiologists.In this chapter, we review the essential concepts of the use of vascular ultrasound imaging in the study of the territories that are most commonly evaluated: ◆ Cerebrovascular circulation. ◆ Abdominal circulation. ◆ Lower limb circulation (arterial and venous disease).In each of these sections, we describe the technical details of the ultrasonic examination, the normal recordings, the abnormal findings of specific diseases/syndromes affecting each territory, and the postoperative/post-interventional evaluation and follow-up.