Dermatological manifestations of chronic venous insufficiency: A cross-sectional study from a Centre in South India

Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) describes a condition that affects the venous system of the lower extremities with venous hypertension causing various pathologies including pain, edema, skin changes and ulceration. Amongst these, skin changes are one of the earliest signs. In India, it is an underestimated cause of morbidity causing work place absenteeism although exact statistics are unavailable. Objectives: To study the dermatological manifestations of CVI and correlate it with Venous Doppler scan findings. Methods: 100 patients with CVI were selected for the study and a detailed history-taking with clinical examination was conducted. A Venous Doppler scan was performed and the findings were correlated clinically. Results: In our study, the distribution of subjects were 4 females (33.3%) of CEAP clinical grade C3, 58(70%) males and 4(33.3%) females of clinical grade C4a, 9 (10.2%) males and 2(16.7%) females of clinical grade C4b, 3 (3.4%) males of clinical grade C5, 18 (20.4%) males and 2(16.7%) females of clinical grade C6.The Venous Doppler imaging of the affected limbs of patients showed significant clinical correlation.(p<0.01) Conclusion: Chronic venous insufficiency is an underestimated public health problem. The risk factors found to be associated with development of CVI in the study were age, gender, obesity, pregnancy, family history, occupation involving prolonged orthostasis and smoking. The common clinical manifestations of CVI observed were edema, stasis eczema, lipodermatosclerosis (LDS) and venous ulcers. Venous Doppler Ultrasonography of affected limbs showed that frequency of reflux increased with severity of visible signs of disease.