ABSTRACT
Introduction The hallmarks of venous insufficiency, varicose veins, and telangiectasias are exceedingly common. A San Diego epidemiological study has shown that more than 20% of women and half that number of men had signs of venous insufficiency.1 Presence of telangiectasias varied by gender, ethnicity, and age but prevalence of varicose veins varied only by gender and were more common in women. These conditions are termed primary venous insufficiency. When edema, hyperpigmentation, and venous ulcers or the scars of healed ulcers are present the applied term is chronic venous insufficiency. The prevalence of severe chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is acknowledged to be 1-2% in Western civilization.2,3 Discarded theories of causation of CVI include stagnant blood pooling (stasis)4 and deprivation of skin oxygenation.5
