[Varicosities as a result of acquired non-traumatic arteriovenous fistulas]

82 patients with telangiectasias of the lower extremities near the knee were examined. At the level of these telangiectasias, it was possible to hear, with the Doppler, an arterial pulse and the histological examination showed that the telangiectasias were secondary to an arterio-venous fistula. Since this shunt is not an important one, we feel that this is a micro-fistula. In most cases, telangiectasias appear at puberty or during delivery in young women. The clinical picture is not univocal and its manifestations are more less obvious. Such an arterio-venous disease is neither congenital nor traumatic; we believe it has a special origin, corresponding to an abnormal functioning of normal cutaneous arterio-venous shunts.