Digital Ischemic Loss in Systemic Sclerosis

Table 2

Radiographic considerations for evaluation of digital ischemic loss in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Modality	Pros	Cons
Conventional Angiography	Extremely sensitive for identifying vascular abnormalities	Invasive
		High contrast load
	Standardized technique	Radiation exposure
		Risk of inducing vasospasm
Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA)	Standardized technique
	Noninvasive
	No contrast load	Long scanning time
	No radiation exposure	Resolution inferior to CT or conventional angiography in distal digital vessels
	Can visualize vessel wall in addition to lumen
	Can visualize surrounding structures
	Can visualized venous lesions
Computed Tomography (CT) Angiography	Noninvasive	Less contrast load than conventional angiography
	Excellent bone and soft tissue spatial relationships	Shorter scanning time
		Resolution inferior to conventional angiograpy in distal digital vessels