Venous diseases

What is a venous disorder?

The term “venous disorders” covers several diseases of the veins, which all lead to similar symptoms but have different causes. Often, several diseases are associated with each other, as they are mutually beneficial. For example, phlebitis occurs primarily in varicose veins and can easily end in venous thrombosis, i.e. an occlusion of the venous vessel.

  • Varicose veins (varicosis),
  • The weakness of the veins (chronic venous insufficiency),
  • The phlebitis (thrombophlebitis) and
  • The venous thrombosis.

Causes

Most varicose veins occur without a recognizable cause. It is assumed that standing and sitting activities favour the appearance of varicose veins. However, genetic predisposition can also favour the development of varicose veins.

In rare cases, varicose veins develop as a result of a flow obstruction in the venous system, e.g. due to a thrombosis (blood clot). The weakness of the veins is caused, among other things, by a valve weakness of the deep leg veins. As a result, more blood must be transported back to the heart through the superficial leg veins, which overloads these vessels.

However, even after a temporary closure of a leg vein, changes in the vein structures can occur, resulting in venous weakness. As a rule, phlebitis develops on the floor of varicose veins. The inflammation is promoted by the pathological changes in the vein structure and the worsened blood return transport. A thrombosis (closure by a blood clot) of the leg veins occurs when there are changes in the vascular wall, the blood composition and when the blood flow slows down. There are many known risk factors that promote thrombosis:

  • Overweight
  • Several genetic diseases
  • Smoking
  • Overweight
  • Pregnancy
  • The pill (see thrombosis while taking the pill)
  • Vein weakness
  • High age and many more.

Diagnosis

The most important thing is to detect a thrombosis without delay. This is an emergency and must be treated immediately. If a thrombosis occurs, there is a risk of life-threatening pulmonary embolism (an occlusion of a pulmonary vessel).

The guiding principle for all venous diseases is that the patient is questioned by the doctor and the symptoms are described. In the case of thrombosis, there is also an important laboratory parameter (D-dimer) that is determined. Furthermore, imaging procedures, usually ultrasound, are used for diagnosis.