Current state of noninvasive vascular diagnosis in Spain

Objective: Noninvasive vascular diagnosis has become routine in radiology departments in Spain. This article aims to communicate the results of a survey sent to a large number of Spanish hospitals to obtain information about the following aspects of noninvasive vascular diagnosis: who performs it and how, in what conditions it is performed, what problems there are in relation to these techniques, and what the training is like. Material and methods: In October 2008, we sent a questionnaire to 93 hospitals with training programs in diagnostic imaging and to 45 hospitals without training programs. The questionnaire solicited information about the hospital and its technological and human resources, the organization of the diagnostic imaging department, the performance of different noninvasive vascular examinations, and the respondents' opinions about problems related to these techniques and about the state of training programs. Results: A total of 43 (46%) of the 93 teaching hospitals and 9 (20%) of the non-teaching hospitals responded to the survey. This article uses multiple tables and figures to communicate the responses obtained in the survey. Conclusions: The results of the survey provide a view of the current state of noninvasive vascular diagnosis in teaching hospitals in Spain in concrete figures. We hope that these data will stimulate diagnostic imaging departments to protect these techniques and to actively promote training in noninvasive vascular diagnosis. © 2009 SERAM. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.