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Published on: September 26, 2018
CVD: a condition of underestimated severity
1Josef Pflug Vascular Laboratory, Ealing Hospital and Imperial College, London, UK - lattimer09@imperial.ac.uk.
Insights
Chronic venous disease (CVD), affecting a quarter of adults, is often underestimated due to low awareness and misperception. Greater recognition of CVD, including its severe forms, is crucial for improved patient treatment and public health focus.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Medicine
- Public Health
Background:
- Chronic venous disease (CVD) impacts a significant portion of the adult population, causing substantial health burdens.
- Public awareness and healthcare system focus on CVD are limited, often overshadowed by life-threatening conditions.
- The severity of CVD, including post-thrombotic syndrome and venous ulceration, is frequently underestimated, especially when varicose veins are absent.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address misconceptions surrounding CVD and highlight its full scope and severity.
- To provide a comprehensive overview of CVD, encompassing definition, diagnosis, epidemiology, progression, and cost.
- To advocate for increased recognition of CVD within public health systems to improve treatment opportunities.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on the definition, diagnosis, and epidemiology of CVD.
- Analysis of factors contributing to the underestimation of CVD severity.
- Discussion of current and emerging treatment options for CVD.
Main Results:
- CVD affects approximately 25% of adults, with significant underestimation of its impact.
- Factors like limited awareness, diagnostic challenges, and cosmetic perceptions hinder proper recognition.
- Conditions such as telangiectasiae, edema, post-thrombotic syndrome, and venous ulceration represent serious manifestations of CVD.
Conclusions:
- Increased recognition of CVD is essential to improve patient outcomes and healthcare prioritization.
- Comprehensive understanding of CVD's scope, including less visible symptoms, is needed.
- Enhanced public health focus can lead to greater opportunities for effective CVD treatments, including pharmacological and surgical interventions.
Abstract:
Chronic venous disease (CVD) affects approximately a quarter of the adult population and causes a considerable burden on the health of these patients. The true extent of the severity of the disease is hampered because of reduced public awareness, operational difficulties in diagnosis, and the perception that varicose veins are mainly a cosmetic inconvenience. Consequently the disease receives little attention in public health care systems which focus on life threatening conditions and those which cause obvious morbidity like cancer, cardiac disease and stroke. This review aims to correct these misconceptions by addressing the full scope of CVD, including the post-thrombotic syndrome and venous ulceration. The severity of conditions like telangectasiae and edema and the symptoms they cause are frequently underestimated, especially if varicose veins are not present to alert the patient or doctor. The definition, diagnosis, scope, epidemiology, progression and cost of CVD are discussed with evidence to explain how these underestimate the severity of the disease. It is anticipated that once CVD achieves greater recognition this will open up greater opportunities for treatment. These include surgery, endovenous ablation, stenting, compression, venoactive drugs like micronized purified flavonoid fraction and other drugs such as sulodexide and pentoxifylline.
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