Thermographic Diagnosis of Deep Venous Thrombosis1

prior to phlebography. Results in disagreement were reviewed retrospectively. Ascending phlebography was performed using a modified method and diagnostic criteria described by Rabinov and Paulin (7). We obtained 211 phlebograms in 200 patients. USINGTHERMOGRAPHY to diagnose deep venous thrombosis was suggested in 1972 by Soulen et al. (1). They confirmed that thermography was helpful in recognizing the increased heat emission associated with thrombosis, but considered that the thermographic features were nonspecific and that thrombosis could not confidently be differentiated from inflammatory diseases in the leg. Diagnostic criteria were subsequently introduced and successfully applied by Cooke and Pilcher (2, 3), and further studies using those criteria have been published which confirmed the accuracy of thermography (4-6). We have attempted to evaluate the usefulness of thermography as a diagnostic screening modality in all patients with suspected deep venous thrombosis of the lower limb referred for ascending phlebography.