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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffBefore you're tested for fibromuscular dysplasia, your doctor may also want to check for atherosclerosis, another condition that can narrow your arteries. Tests for atherosclerosis usually include a physical exam and a fasting blood test to check your blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
The tests you'll have to diagnose fibromuscular dysplasia could include:
- Doppler ultrasound. Doppler ultrasound can determine if an artery is narrowed by fibromuscular dysplasia. In this noninvasive test, an instrument called a transducer is pressed to your skin. The transducer produces high-frequency sound waves, which bounce off red blood cells. A Doppler ultrasound can estimate how fast blood flows by measuring the rate of change in its pitch (frequency). If the ultrasound shows your blood is moving slowly through an artery, it may be due to fibromuscular dysplasia.
- Computerized tomography (CT) angiogram. A CT angiogram allows your doctor to check your arteries to see if they're narrowed or blocked. You'll receive an injection of a radioactive dye, and the doughnut-shaped CT scanner will be moved to take images of the artery your doctor believes is narrowed. The images are then sent to a computer screen for your doctor to view.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This test allows your doctor to see the soft tissues in your body. During an MRI, you lie on a table inside a long tube-like machine that produces a magnetic field. The magnetic field aligns atomic particles in some of your cells. When radio waves are broadcast toward these aligned particles, the particles produce signals that vary according to the type of tissue they are. Using the images from the test, your doctor may be able to see the cluster of cells narrowing your artery.
- Digital subtraction angiogram. This test is used to check for fibromuscular dysplasia of the kidney. In this test, you'll first have an X-ray taken of the part of your body where your artery may be narrowed. Then you'll receive an injection of a radioactive dye to darken your arteries. Your doctor will then take another X-ray and digitally remove other tissues and blood vessels from the X-ray image. This allows your doctor to clearly see the artery that may be affected. This test is the best way to check for fibromuscular dysplasia, but it's also the most invasive. Digital subtraction angiogram is usually the last in the series of tests you'll have to check for fibromuscular dysplasia.
Once you've been diagnosed with fibromuscular dysplasia, your doctor may repeat a Doppler ultrasound exam or a CT angiogram every six to 12 months to see how your condition is progressing.
- Fibromuscular dysplasia: Important facts you should know. Fibromuscular Dysplasia Society of America. http://fmdsa.org/files/FMDfactsheet2.pdf. Accessed July 7, 2008.
- Slovut DP. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of fibromuscular dysplasia. http://www.uptodate.com/index/. Accessed July 7, 2008.
- Plouin PF, et al. Fibromuscular dysplasia. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2007;2(28):1-8.
- Slovut DP, et al. Treatment of fibromuscular dysplasia of the renal arteries. http://www.uptodate.com/index/. Accessed July 7, 2008.
- Slovut DP, et al. Fibromuscular dysplasia. New England Journal of Medicine. 2004;350:1862-1871.
