Thrombosis of upper extremity thoracic inlet veins: diagnosis with duplex Doppler sonography

Duplex Doppler sonography of the axillary, subclavian, internal jugular, and brachiocephalic veins was performed in 20 normal volunteers and in a series of 22 consecutive patients with suspected venous thrombosis. When normal, these vessels had hypoechoic or anechoic lumina, sharply echogenic walls, and characteristic Doppler flow patterns that varied with changes in intrathoracic pressure. Most thrombosed vessels had poorly defined walls and echogenic lumina. All had absent flow on Doppler analysis. Duplex Doppler sonography was positive in all 10 patients subsequently shown to have venous thrombosis by venography or CT. One false-positive result occurred in a technically limited study. Sonography has the advantages of portability, ease of performance, and high patient acceptance. Duplex Doppler has advantages over either continuous-wave Doppler or imaging sonography alone. Our experience suggests that duplex Doppler sonography should be the initial diagnostic study in evaluating suspected thrombosis of the upper extremity thoracic inlet veins.