The NYU Medical Center Noninvasive Vascular Laboratory offers a wide range of diagnostic as well as therapeutic options for the treatment of vascular disease. Staffed by highly trained and experienced vascular technicians and physicians, the laboratory is accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL). Accreditation status by ICAVL signifies that the facility has been reviewed by an independent agency, which recognizes the laboratory’s commitment of quality testing for diagnosis of vascular disease. Participation in the accreditation process is voluntary and demonstrates the laboratory’s concern for high quality patient care and attention to quality assurance.

The tests performed in the vascular laboratory are non-invasive and painless. Blood pressure cuffs and soft ultrasound probes placed on the skin are used for the tests, from which critical information is quickly derived to assess circulatory problems. Arterial dopplers, venous duplex ultrasound, and carotid artery duplex ultrasound are some of the procedures performed in the laboratory for both inpatients and outpatients. These tests allow physicians to assess arterial circulation in the legs, identify dangerous narrowings in the neck arteries (carotid arteries) which can lead to stroke, and test for potentially life threatening blood clots in veins. These same vein blood clots may be the cause of troublesome leg swelling and pain.

Treatment of certain aneurysms (ballooning of arteries) is also performed in the vascular laboratory by physicians injecting clotting factors directly under ultrasound guidance. Furthermore, the ultrasound vascular imaging has been used in the operating rooms by vascular surgeons to identify varicose veins which can then be obliterated using minimally invasive technology such as radio-frequency ablation.

One American dies very 32 seconds of cardiovascular disease, disorders of the heart and blood vessels. It is the leading cause of death in the United States, costing society over 83 billion dollars each year in health services, medications and lost work time due to disability. Stroke, a disorder of the blood vessels to the brain, is the third leading cause of death and disability in this country, with 500,000 new strokes occurring annually.

Each year, 2 million people in the United States alone develop deep vein thrombosis — blood clots in the veins. This becomes life-threatening for 500,000 of those people when the blood clot breaks loose and travels to their lungs. With early detection through the use of noninvasive vascular testing, this disease can be prevented.

Although life-threatening if undetected, early detection of these vascular diseases is possible through the use of noninvasive testing techniques performed within the vascular laboratory.