[Female gonadal venous insufficiency]

The varicocele is a disease recognized and studied in the man. Dilatation of the ovarian veins and the pelvic varicosities secondaries to a varicocele in the woman is a rarely described disease but, if it were researched, it could be more frequent. Diverse syndromes of chronic abdominal pain in the woman with unrecognized etiology and associated with urologic and/or gynecologic symptomatology could be caused by this pathology, but the absence of a clinical description difficult the diagnosis of the most part of cases. The practice of gonadal selective venographies shows a high percentage of dilatation of the gonadal veins associated to a dilatation of the pelvic veins and of the lower limbs veins. The study of the anatomy of the gonadal veins shows diverse anomalies respect to the classical descriptions. Furthermore, the varicocele could be the cause of a high part of the "essential" varicosities presents during the pregnancy. We present a case that instead of being treated by Services of Urology or Gynecology, it was treated by the Vascular Surgery Service. So, the literature about the respect was reviewed. We think that, some entities, like the feminine varicocele, ovarian vein syndrome, pelvic congestion syndrome chronic pelvic pain, pelvic varicosities, vulvar varicosities and some "essential" pregnant varicosities at the lower limbs could be enclosed into the same clinical entity (with a common etiology, physiopathology, clinical presentation and treatment). It should be intending to unify criteria (etiologic, diagnostic and therapeutics criteria) by the different Specialized Unities in such type of pathology.