Study of chronic venous insufficiency in relation with body mass index

Abstract

Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a condition that occurs due to dysfunctional venous wall and/or valves in the lower limb veins. Some common etiological factors of CVI are obesity, age of more than 50 years, family history of CVI, smoking and pregnancy. The combination of obesity and other genetic and environmental factors creates a higher risk for the development of CVI.Methods: The grade of the venous disease was recorded using the CEAP (anatomical and pathophysiologic criteria). BMI (body mass index) was calculated for each patient and the patients were classified into underweight, normal, overweight and obese categories. Mean, standard deviation, p value and percentage of each stage of venous disease in each group was calculated accordingly and studied.Results: In this study, it was established that a patient with a high BMI (>25 kg/m2) had a higher probability of developing CVI in comparison to a patient with a lower BMI. According to the data, 28.6% of normal weight patients had CVI, 64.3% of overweight patients had CVI and 81.5% of obese patients had CVI.Conclusions: In this study, we concluded that as the BMI increases the probability of development of CVI (C3-C6) also increases. Thus, the presence of CVI should be identified and treated promptly in obese individuals with close follow-up in order to prevent complications.