Chronic venous insufficiency, cardiovascular disease, and mortality: a population study
Authors' conclusion
Chronic venous insufficiency is highly prevalent in the population and is associated with the presence of cardiovascular risk factors and disease. Individuals with CVI experience an elevated risk of death, which is independent of age and sex, and present cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities.
Study context
- Population
- Adults aged 40–80 years in the Gutenberg Health Study, April 2012 to April 2017
- Participants
- 12,423 adults
- Exposure
- Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) vs no CVI
- Outcome
- Prevalence of CVI, its clinical determinants and CVI-associated risk of all-cause death
- Follow-up
- Mean 6.4 ± 1.6 years
Methodological detailsexternal replication cohort (MyoVasc)
- External replication cohort (MyoVasc)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Prevalence
Prevalence of telangiectasia/reticular veins
36.5%
95% CI 35.6–37.4%
Prevalence of varicose veins
13.3%
95% CI 12.6–13.9%
Prevalence of CVI
40.8%
95% CI 39.9–41.7%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-cause death · mean follow-up 6.4 ± 1.6 yearsIndependent of clinical profile and medication | 1.46 (1.19–1.79) | P = 0. 0003 | |
| All-cause death, external validation (MyoVasc cohort) | 1.51 (1.11–2.05) | P = 0.009 | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Clinical determinants of CVI
- Age, female sex, arterial hypertension, obesity, smoking and clinically overt CVD identified as determinants of CVI
Predicted 10-year risk of incident CVD (individuals free of CVD, n = 9923)
- Higher CEAP classes associated with higher predicted 10-year CVD risk
Original publication
Chronic venous insufficiency, cardiovascular disease, and mortality: a population study. Eur Heart J. Published 13 August 2021. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it