The utility of digital subtraction arteriography in peripheral vascular disease.

Digital subtraction angiography (DSA), whether used in conjunction with intravenous or intraarterial injection techniques, has an established role in evaluation of peripheral vascular disease. Use of DSA can reduce the time, cost, and patient discomfort of the standard arteriographic study. While it is limited by field size and patient cooperation in some instances, the utility of noninvasive imaging using intravenous DSA and the added anatomic detail of intraarterial DSA for roadmapping and delineation of small distal vessels provide the basis for future integration of standard arteriographic and DSA methods in assessment of peripheral vascular disease.