Bilateral calf measurements were made on a man who had non-healing ulcers on his left leg.
His standard PVR tests (including ankle-brachial index and pneumatic cuff plethysmography) took about 40 minutes, were painful (because the cuffs were squeezing on the ulcers) and the results were normal. The PV measurement, on the other hand revealed a major discrepancy between the limbs; the PV in left leg was 4 micL/cm and in the right leg was 30 micL/cm.
This suggests that traditional PVR's provide information about large vessel function only, whereas PPF measurements reflect both large and small vessel function. This patient probably had small vessel disease, which is commonly seen with diabetes.
Anecdotal data from a single patient in a private practice setting.