Objective: To determine the accuracy of information about the peripheral arterial obliteration character gained by Colour duplex ultrasound (CDU) in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease. To assess the value of this method in decision making about type of treatment. Angiography was chosen as a comparative method. Materiál and method: Patients with claudications and critical limb ischaemia were included in the study. Arterial system was imaged from subrenal aorta to the level of the ankle. The stenosis was quantified by peak systolic velocity ratio. Absence of the signal in Colour and spectral Doppler record is the main diagnostic criterion of obliteration. Obliterations in the femoropopliteal segments were divided finto shon ones (< 10 cm) and long ones (>_ 10 cm). Results: 174 patients (2201ower extremities and 1413 arterial segments) were examined ultrasonographically and compared with angiography. 389 pathological affections were found. Total accuracy of CDU for prediction of stenosis greater than 50 % and obliteration was 95 %, senzitivity 90 % and specificity 97 %. Total agreement in the evaluation of the occlusivn was 94 %. Conclusion: CDU is an accurate non-invasive method for determination of haemodynamically significant affections of arterial system in aortoiliac, femoropopliteal as well as crural area. High agreement between CDU and AG enables to choose patients suitable for PTA only in the basis of CDU results.

        Key words: peripheral arterial occlusive disease - Colour-coded duplex ultrasound - contrast angiography - percutaneous angioplasty graphy - percutaneous angioplasty