Photoplethysmography in the assessment of venous insufficiency.

Photoplethysmography has been used simultaneously with ambulatory venous pressure measurements to study 32 patients. Of the 62 limbs studied, 24 were normal, 20 had primary varicose veins, and 18 had deep valvular incompetence. The results indicate that the photoplethysmographic refilling time can provide a good separation between the three groups when the test is performed in the standing, but not in the sitting, position. However, the test is qualitative because we found a lack of correlation between the short refilling times in limbs with deep venous insufficiency and the ambulatory venous pressure.