Progress in the management of venous disease during our five decades as surgeons

Peter NEGLÉN, MD, PhD1, Bo EKLÖF, MD, PhD2 1Trimiklini, Cyprus; 2Råå, Sweden Abstract The authors’ experience spans 5 decades of development in the management of venous disease. They describe their journey through the open surgery era; the transforming introduction of duplex ultrasound scanning; the establishment of consensus-driven classification, terminology, and investigatory planning, hugely important for research and patient care; and the emergence of minimally invasive endovascular procedures during the 21st century with greater acceptability by patients, minimal morbidity/ mortality, and wider application than open surgery. The management of patients with venous disease has progressed immensely since the 1960s. Introduction At…

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Update on calf vein thrombosis

Pier Luigi ANTIGNANI, MD, PhD, FIUA, MRSM, DFAVF, FESVM, EFACP; President of the International Union of Angiology; Director, Vascular Center, Nuova Villa Claudia, Rome, Italy Abstract Calf deep vein thrombosis, defined as thrombosis confined to the calf veins of the lower limbs, is a frequent finding in symptomatic outpatients and inpatients when the ultrasound examination is extended to the deep veins of the whole leg. The prevalence of the disease is between 5% and 33% of all deep vein thrombosis (DVT) cases detected by ultrasound, low in symptomatic patients and higher in asymptomatic patients at high risk of DVT. Thrombi…

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Role of anticoagulation treatment in the prevention of post-thrombotic syndrome

Christos KARATHANOS, MD, PhD1; Athanasios GIANNOUKAS,MD, PhD2; 1Consultant Vascular Surgeon; 2Professor of Vascular Surgery and Head of the Department; Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital of Larissa, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece Abstract Post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) develops after deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs and may affect up to 50% of patients after proximal DVT. Prevention is of paramount importance as there is no gold standard for treatment of established PTS. Pharmacological or mechanical thromboprophylaxis is recommended to prevent PTS. Effective DVT treatment with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), direct oral anticoagulants…

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Pharmacological correction of total venous reflux in patients with varicose veins

Nikolai KHOREV,1 MD, PhD; Darya KUZNETSOVA,2 MD, PhD 1Department of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Altai State Medical University, Barnaul, Russia 2Department of Pathological Anatomy, Department of Pathophysiology Altai State Medical University, Barnaul, Russia Abstract The study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of micronized purified flavonoid fraction (MPFF) in patients with primary chronic venous disease (CVD). It included 35 patients with varicose veins of the lower extremities (18 with bilateral and 7 with unilateral lesion). A total of 53 legs with varicose veins were evaluated in 3 groups based on the CEAP (Clinical, Etiology, Anatomic, Pathophysiology classification system) clinical class:…

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Is compression necessary after endovenous thermal ablation of varicose veins? Clarifying a (com)pressing matter

Matthew TAN, BSc, MBBS, MRCS, AFHEA; Alun H. DAVIES, MA, DM, DSc, FRCS, FHEA, FEBVS, FLSW, FACPh Section of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom Abstract Chronic venous disease (CVD) represents a significant impact on patients’ lives with negative financial, social, and health-related quality of life consequences. The gold standard for treatment of varicose veins and CVD is now considered to be endovenous thermal ablation (EVTA). Although compression is widely prescribed for patients post EVTA, there is widespread disagreement on the optimal compression regimen and if compression is even required…

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CHIVA versus ablation

Claude FRANCESCHI, MD Angiologist, Consultant with Groupe Hospitalier Paris Saint Joseph, Paris, France Abstract CHIVA is the French acronym for Conservatrice et Hémodynamique de l’Insuffisance Veineuse en Ambulatoire, ie, Conservative and Hemodynamic Treatment of Venous Insufficiency in outpatients. Ablation is not conservative, and CHIVA is based on a different hemodynamic approach. It is counterintuitive because it is difficult to imagine that the varicose veins could disappear without ablation either by extraction or by endovenous destruction. This treatment raises scientific questions that require us to revisit our understanding of classical venous pathophysiology in light of what echo-Doppler has contributed to our…

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The place of micronized purified flavonoid fraction in the management of chronic venous disease from an international guidelines’ perspective

Sergey Gennadievich GAVRILOV, MD, PhD Jorge H. ULLOA, MD1; Sebastian CIFUENTES, MD2; Antonio SOLANO, MD2; Valentin FIGUEROA, MD2 1Vascular Surgeon, Chief of Vascular Surgery Department, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá University Hospital; Professor of Surgery, Universidad de los Andes School of Medicine, Bogotá, Colombia. 2Vascular Surgery Research Fellow, Vascular Surgery Department, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá University Hospital, Bogotá, Colombia. Abstract Chronic venous disease (CVD) is a highly prevalent disorder with a broad spectrum of symptoms determined by disease stage and whether there is deep or superficial venous system compromise. The treatment goal for CVD is to slow and prevent…

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Management of venous ulceration (interventional treatments) with perspectives from a recent meta-analysis and recommendations

Nicolas NEAUME, MD Clinique Pasteur, Toulouse, France Abstract Venous leg ulcers still affect about 1% of the adult population despite recent advances in chronic venous insufficiency treatment, and they represent a significant public health cost, estimated at between 1% and 2% of the annual health budget of Western European countries. Venous leg ulcers may be treated conservatively, with compression bandaging and wound care, medically, surgically, or with a combination of approaches, depending on the severity of the ulcer and available resources. The randomized trial of early endovenous ablation in venous ulceration demonstrated that early removal of a superficial venous reflux…

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Phlebolymphedema: an up-to-date review

Jorge H. ULLOA,1 MD, FACS; Sebastian CIFUENTES,2 MD; Valentin FIGUEROA,2 MD; Emelyn Van UDEN,2 MD; Javier A. BRAVO,2 MD; Miguel AMORE,3 MD; Jairo RAMÍREZ,1 MD, FACS 1Vascular Surgery Department, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá University Hospital; Universidad de los Andes Medical School. Bogotá, Colombia; 2Universidad de los Andes Medical School, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá University Hospital. Bogotá, Colombia; 3Vascular Surgery Department, Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina Abstract Phlebolymphedema is a vascular condition in which there is damage of the venous and lymphatic systems in the lower limbs. It is secondary to chronic venous insufficiency, which results in venous hypertension…

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The transosseous perforator veins of the knee

Jean-François UHL,1 MD; Marios VALSAMIS,2 MD; Claude GILLOT,3 MD 1Research Director, UNESCO Chair of Digital Anatomy – Paris University, Paris, France 2Phlebologist & Surgeon (private practice), Athens, Greece 3Laboratory of Anatomy – Paris University, Paris, France Abstract The perforator veins (PVs) of the knee can be responsible for reticular veins, telangiectases, and varicosities around the knee, but they are frequently underdiagnosed and missed by the phlebologists and the sonographers because of their tiny size. These PVs are frequently located around the patella and connected with transosseous perforators, well-demonstrated in the anatomical part of this work. This could explain why sclerotherapy…

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