Vascular Screenings Specialist

Vascular screening can save your life if you’re at risk of developing severe conditions like strokes and abdominal aortic aneurysms. The team of board-certified vascular surgeons at Sarasota Vascular Specialists in Sarasota, Florida, offers a package of vascular screenings using noninvasive methods like vascular ultrasounds. Call the office to schedule your screening exam or book an appointment online today.

What are vascular screenings?

Vascular screenings are procedures that look for early signs of disease in your blood vessels. Using screening, your doctor at Sarasota Vascular Specialists detects these problems before they develop into severe, potentially life-threatening conditions.

If you’ve got risk factors for vascular diseases, you should have vascular screenings at intervals advised by your doctor. Risk factors include:

• Family history of vascular disease
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• High cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Leg cramps when walking

The Sarasota Vascular Specialists team offers convenient on-site vascular screenings for several major circulatory disorders.

What conditions do vascular screening tests look for?

The three main conditions vascular screenings look for are:

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysms form when there’s a weakness in the lining of the aortic artery wall. This large artery delivers blood to the lower half of your body. When an aneurysm develops, the artery walls stretch, and the resulting balloon or pouch fills with blood. Sudden death is possible if an abdominal aortic aneurysm ruptures.

Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis can affect any of your arteries. These diseases develop when cholesterol particles bind together to form a sticky substance (plaque) that coats the inner artery wall. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Stroke

A stroke happens when a blockage forms in the carotid artery. A carotid artery, found on each side of the neck, carries blood from your heart to your head. Blockages can interrupt the blood supply to your brain, causing a stroke.

What do vascular screenings involve?

The abdominal aortic aneurysm test and stroke/carotid artery test use ultrasound scans. You need to fast for four hours before your abdominal aortic aneurysm test.

Ultrasound is a painless, noninvasive diagnostic imaging technology. A technician at Sarasota Vascular Specialists puts a gel on your abdomen or neck and passes a hand-held device over the area. This creates an image of your blood vessels that your doctor uses to spot narrowing or blockages in the arteries.

A blood circulation test or ABI (ankle-brachial index) test measures the blood pressure in your ankle and arm and compares the results. A low ABI indicates you have peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD is also an indicator that you might have heart blockages.

Who does my vascular screenings?

All vascular screenings are done by registered vascular technologists in the Sarasota Vascular Specialists IAC (Intersocietal Accreditation Commission)-accredited vascular lab. They use state-of-the-art GE Ultrasound machines and Medstreaming software for rapid results reporting.

The results go to the practice’s board-certified vascular surgeons for analysis. Your doctor will contact you to discuss the findings and advise on any preventive measures or treatments you need.

Call Sarasota Vascular Specialists or book an appointment online today to determine if you could benefit from a vascular screening.

*Please note: we charge 149$ for Vascular Screenings