Our Vascular Laboratory is fully accredited by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC). Through this achievement the lab demonstrates our commitment to quality patient care. The Vascular Laboratory performs a full range of vascular examinations for patients. The Laboratory provides physicians with a dedicated, full service vascular diagnostic facility utilizing state-of-the-art duplex ultrasound imagers and indirect testing equipment.
Our referral base includes clinic outpatients, community physician referrals, and hospital inpatients. The lab is housed on the first floor of the Central Building at the UAMS Medical Center, with an additional facility on the fourth floor of the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital.
The Vascular Sonography staff is clinically skilled and RVT credentialed by the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS).
Non-Invasive Tests Performed
Cerebrovascular Duplex utilizes duplex ultrasonography to evaluate the cervical, carotid, and vertebral arteries to determine the location and severity of occlusive disease which may lead to stroke or blindness.
Arterial Duplex (including ankle/brachial measurement) utilizes duplex ultrasonography to detect and/or monitor disease of the upper and lower extremities in native arteries and arterial bypass grafts. Duplex evaluation of a groin mass following cardiac catheterization or angioplasty is helpful in diagnosis and management of pseudo-aneurysmal dilatation of the vessel.
Venous Duplex is a highly accurate ultrasound test that directly images the inside of veins. This examination is ordered when a physician suspects that a patient may have a blood clot in a vein- usually in the arms or legs. This examination requires no patient preparation, and involves no needles or injections of any kind. It is painless and can be completed in less than an hour, giving the patient and physician an almost instantaneous answer to the question of whether or not a blood clot is found.
Doppler Exams use a different variety of ultrasound equipment to assess the amount of circulation in the arms, hands, fingers or legs. This examination does not image the inside of vessels, but instead is used to evaluate whether or not there are blockages within the arteries of the extremities. This examination can then determine how much of the circulation is affected by the blockages, giving the physician the information needed to help decide which patients might require some type of procedure to restore adequate blood flow.
Abdominal Mesenteric Vascular Exam is a test to determine the presence or absence of a stenosis, aneurysm of the mesenteric arteries. This test is done after patient has fasted from the evening before and is usually done in the early morning.
Abdominal Renal Artery Exam is used to determine if any significant narrowings are present in the arteries going to the kidneys. This examination uses ultrasound technology similar to that in carotid or venous examinations. However, due to the depth of the kidneys and its blood vessels, more powerful ultrasound probes are used. Also, because the ultrasound beam must go through the abdominal organs to reach the kidneys, no food or drink can be taken for at least eight hours before the test. The examination may take two or three hours to complete.