Quantifying success in varicose vein surgery is a daunting task. The black and white duplex ultrasound end-point of above knee saphenous occlusion/stripping has no scale, does not take into account perforating veins, disregards the state of the saphenous vein below the knee and ignores extra-saphenous sources of reflux. Air-plethysmography (APG) is a global assessment of… Read More »
The observation of granulocyte adherence to the venous endothelium, lymphocyte infiltration and enhanced chemokine expression in the walls of varicose veins suggest an inflammatory process activated by bacteria. This is because these findings are difficult to explain as the sole consequence of destructive physical factors like elevated venous pressure. WALDEMAR L. OLSZEWSKI We searched for… Read More »
The re-appearance or enlargement of residual varicose veins (VVs) may occur after all the different methods of treatment. It is unlikely that any one treatment will ever provide a complete protection against recurrence. This is related to the fact that patients have an inherent weakness in the wall of their veins. Relentless pressure from gravitational… Read More »
Surrogate markers or endpoints are those which evaluate the effect of a treatment in the hope that they represent a meaningful clinical endpoint. What matters is whether a treatment for varicose veins has alleviated the presenting symptoms and not whether sites of reflux have been obliterated or the venous filling index has improved. Clinical endpoints… Read More »
The association between the presence of varicose veins and leg pain is very unclear. Varicose veins are common and do not bother many people. Leg pains are even more common and are frequently unrelated to varicose veins. There are many causes of leg pain. However, if their description contains a reference to feelings of heavy, weighty or… Read More »