Chronic venous disorders of the leg: epidemiology, outcomes, diagnosis and management. Summary of an evidence-based report of the VEINES task force. Venous Insufficiency Epidemiologic and Economic Studies.

BACKGROUND: To critically review the classification, epidemiology, outcomes, diagnosis and treatment of chronic venous disorders of the leg (CVDL), to issue evidence-based recommendations, and to identify areas requiring further research. METHODS: Articles identified by an extensive literature search were scored by members of an international task force. Only those articles with a moderate or strong rating for internal validity were retained. RESULTS: A scoring system weighing CVDL severity according to the probability of ulcer occurrence is proposed. Epidemiological data on the frequency of CVDL and its risk factors are reviewed. The following items are evaluated: costs associated with treatment; clinical outcomes related to CVDL and its treatment; available generic and disease-specific measures of quality of life; diagnostic procedures used to detect venous reflux; and efficacy of available treatments. CONCLUSIONS: CVDL is an important public health problem, based on its prevalence, cost and impact on quality of life. High-priority areas for research on CVDL are identified.

Assessment of acute and old deep venous thrombosis in upper extremity by venous strain gauge plethysmography.

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the efficiency of occlusion strain gauge plethysmography in the diagnosis of symptomatic deep venous thrombosis in upper extremities, to compare early (one month) and late clinical evolution (many years) to plethysmography data and, finally, to set up normal and pathological values. Four groups of patients were tested. Sixteen patients with confirmed acute thrombosis, 6 patients with unconfirmed thrombosis, 15 with an old thrombosis (mean follow-up: 7 years) as well as 15 healthy volunteers. The outflows measurements were significantly lowered (p less than 0.05) in the arms with acute thrombosis compared to the contralateral arms, to the affected arms of patients with thrombosis excluded and to both volunteers' arms. Pathological values for the different outflow parameters could be defined as follows: Maximum venous output less than 110 ml/100 ml/minute, Outflow after 3 seconds less than 1.2 ml/100 ml, Strandness index less than 0.16. On month after the acute episode we found a good correlation between the usually favourable clinical evolution and venous haemodynamics assessed by plethysmography. The mild late post-thrombotic syndrome of most patients with an old thrombosis was not well demonstrated by plethysmography.

Assessment of flow and oxygen delivery to the lower extremity in arterial insufficiency: a PET-scan study comparison with other methods.

The authors studied muscular blood flow (F), oxygen consumption rate (R), and oxygen extraction fraction (E) in 5 patients suffering from severe intermittent claudication (stage II). They applied the bolus technique of H2150 and 1502 with a detection by positron emission tomography (PET). Tomograms were recorded at the greatest diameter of the calves, at rest and ten minutes after a treadmill walk test leading to the development of ischemic pain in the affected extremity. F and E data were compared with the values obtained by more usual methods, namely occlusive venous strain gauge plethysmography and femoral venous blood sampling. During the study, these patients received naftidrofuryl, a vasodilatator drug, in an intravenous dose of 600 mg diluted in 250 mL saline infused over a six-hour period in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover protocol (two consecutive experiments, a week apart). The results showed that all blood flow values measured at rest and after exercise by PET were in close correlation (r = 0.71) with the plethysmographic findings. The agreement between the two methods of measuring blood flow was less obvious with an Altman's presentation of the data: there was a tendency to measure higher values with PET scan. Concerning E, the correlation was poor at rest. After exercise, the values were more elevated with PET and no correlation was found with blood samples. The authors found no significant effect of naftidrofuryl either on flow or metabolic data.