European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Chronic venous Insufficiency (CVI) is a commonest condition encountered in clinical practice that occurs due to venous valvular dysfunction in the superficial, deep, and/or perforating veins. The spectrum may vary from common varicose veins to more severe deep vein thrombosis and resulting local and systemic complications. Duplex ultrasonography plays vital role in understanding the spectrum of CVI.  Objectives: To evaluate the spectrum of colour duplex ultrasound findings in patients with chronic venous insufficiency clinical symptoms and signs.  Material & Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in the department of Radio diagnosis of a tertiary care hospital. for a period two years. The study included 50 participants presenting with symptoms of pain, swelling, pedal oedema varicosities, erythema, and venous ulcer were included. In addition to detailed clinical assessment and review of past medical records,  Doppler ultrasonography of lower extremities was done. Results:  Age of the participants ranged from  11-70 years and 70% of participants were males. Among 50 participants 44 (88%) were positive on Doppler. In our study primary varicosities were seen in 29 cases ( 65.91%). Varicosities secondary to DVT were seen in 13 cases ( 29.55%), congenital causes were rare as noted in 2 cases (4.54%) of the total positive Doppler study cases. Swelling (36%) was the most common presenting symptom, followed by varicosity (20%). Prolonged hospitalization 5 (38.46%) is the major predisposing factor in patients with DVT. At least one perforator incompetence was seen in 42 (95.45%) cases. Below knee perforators seen in 30 (68.2%) cases, mid-calf perforators were involved in  26 (59.09%) cases and above ankle perforator incompetence was observed in 27(61.36%) cases. There was no statistically significant difference in the pattern of veins affected between male and female participants (P= 0.580). Conclusion: The colour duplex sonography is a safe, non-invasive, accurate, easily repeatable, economical, and widely available modality in the diagnosis of venous insufficiency and excludes underlying DVT, thus helping in providing valuable insights for the treatment of the patient.