The role of contact thermography in the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis.

Contact thermography, a non-invasive inexpensive method of investigation for the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis in the lower limb, was compared with conventional ascending phlebography in 69 patients. The results showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 97% and a diagnostic specificity of 50% giving an overall agreement of 73% between the methods. The low diagnostic specificity of thermography was to be expected, since any inflammatory reaction, whatever the cause, will give a rise in the skin-temperature. The high sensitivity shows that thermography is useful as a screening method. In the present material thermography could have prevented 25 per cent of the phlebographies.