ABSTRACT
This particular paper is interesting because it demonstrates quite clearly the inevitable rise of the specialty: in 1984 the total number of vascular cases comprised only 3.4 per cent of all operations on this particular unit and rose to 33.4 per cent by 1998, leading to the firmly stated conclusion that ‘with such a rapidly growing arterial caseload, specialisation to vascular surgery is inevitable’. The third paper in this particular volume of the journal5 discusses regional variations in varicose vein operations across England. A similar disparity was revealed in the provision of carotid endarterectomy in Wessex.6 The results again confirm the inconsistency between subregions in the numbers of operations done. In other words, despite the relatively uniform prevalence of vascular disease across the UK, the actual number of patients treated depends very much on local circumstances.
