[Somatic risk factors for chronic venous insufficiency in women--preliminary report]

Chronic venous insufficiency is a major social problem. The nature of this illness lies in disturbances of the dynamic pressure balance in venous vessels, which leads to difficulties in venous reflux. As a consequence teleangiectasia and varices are formed, and they are the basis for the development of trophic skin changes. The causes of the illness have not been fully recognised. It is suggested that genetic factors, body mass, past pregnancies, mode of life, or sex hormones may play an important role in the pathogenesis. The occurrence of this illness has been estimated to reach between 9 and 58% of the developed countries of North America and Europe's population; and women are suffer from it more often than men do. We decided to check the frequency of occurrence of the chronic venous insufficiency in the population of women inhabiting Zabrze-Rokitnica. In addition to this we tried to evaluate the influence of various factors on the occurrence and intensity of the illness. The research included women between 18 and 60 years of age, patients of the NZOZ "Therapeutica" in Zabrze. The occurrence of teleangiectasia and varices according to CEAP was appreciated. The height and body mass were measured as well as a short history was made concentrating on the chronic venous insufficiency risk factors. In the so-far surveyed population of women 49.7% had symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency, and 27.0% of the whole group had teleangiectasia and 22.7%--varices. The frequency of occurrence of chronic venous insufficiency correlated with BMI, age and the number of pregnancies.