VENUS VALVULAR REFLUX IN VEINS NOT INVOLVED AT THE TIME OF ACUTE DEEP-VEIN THROMBOSIS

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether, in lower extr emities with documented episodes of acute deep venous thrombosis (DVT) , incompetence develops in veins that were not the site of thrombosis. Methods: Patients were monitored with serial duplex ultrasonography a t 1 day, 1 week, 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, and then annually after de tection of acute DVT. The following venous segments were analyzed: com mon femoral, greater saphenous, proximal superficial femoral, deep fem oral, popliteal, and posterior tibial. The incidence of reflux develop ment in both thrombosed and uninvolved segments was determined. Reflux was categorized as either transient or permanent. Results: A total of 227 limbs in 188 patients were serially studied. Mean follow-up was 1 9.9 months (range 1 to 88 months). Overall, 403 of the 1423 segments ( 28.3% +/- 2.3%) developed reflux during the study, of which 118 (29.3% +/- 4.4%) had no prior or concurrent history of thrombosis. Consideri ng only the segments that developed incompetence, the percent without prior thrombosis at each level was as follows: common femoral vein (40 .0%), greater saphenous vein (53.1%), deep femoral vein (20.6%), proxi mal superficial femoral vein (23.9%), popliteal vein (8.9%), and poste rior tibial vein (31.9%). Valvular insufficiency developing in segment s uninvolved with thrombus was more likely to be transient (40.2%) tha n was the reflux in thrombosed segments (22.6%). This difference was s tatistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Permanent venous val vular damage can occur in the absence of thrombosis after DVT. Reflux in uninvolved venous segments has a different anatomic distribution an d is more likely to be transient than the incompetence associated with thrombosis.