[Anatomy by ultrasound of the veins in the leg: essentials].

Studying the anatomy of lower extremity veins is a tedious and complex task. Although huge efforts have been undertaken to create harmonization, any global description of the venous network is encumbered by the large number of superficial and deep veins, anastomoses and collaterals, and not least by a vastly broad nomenclature. Innumerable anatomic variants contribute to creating a complicated picture. What is needed is a description that correspondingly reflects the reality. Yet, does our description reproduce the actual anatomic and pathologic circumstances? As a rule, a phlebography is performed to localize an acute or chronic venous condition. The examiner must have learn about the "healthy" to What the stethoscope is to a cardiologist, the Doppler sonography transducer was to the phlebologist, an indispensable tool. Nowadays, duplex sonography has to be called the gold standard in that it supplies the most comprehensive information for diagnosing functional disorders of the venous system, thereby enabling a clear therapeutic strategy to be delineated. Most qualitatively average or high-grade ultrasound machines are equipped with duplex sonography, which today's specialists can employ to highly efficiently render a differential diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis. Given the ethic and forensic background and the potentially lethal outcome of a misdiagnosis, the use of this diagnostic tool must be exclusively reserved for physicians with a particularly high level of skill and training. The specialist societies for ultrasonography, angiology and phlebology have published strict guidelines for teaching Doppler sonography in Switzerland.