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Home > Press Center > Press Releases from 2007 Annual Meeting > National Venous Screening Program Expanded and Updated

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Emily Kalata
Assistant Director, Communications
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The National Venous Screening Program (NVSP), administered by the American Venous Forum has expanded from 17 to 158 centers in 43 states, and expected is to screen and educate approximately 4,000 people about venous disease. Details of the program, now in its second year, were released today at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery.   

“The two main reasons people came to be screened were because it was free or they indicated that they had varicose veins,” said Robert B. McLafferty, MD, professor in the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine division of vascular surgery in Springfield. “When assessing the risk of developing a dangerous blood clot in the leg if a person was put in the appropriate conducive situation, 8 percent were at low risk; 35 percent, moderate risk; 33 percent, high risk; and 24 percent very high risk.”

Those in the high or very high risk would be considered candidates for developing deadly blood clots in the legs that can travel to the heart and the lungs. “By educating people about their potential risk, we empower them to impart this information to their physician who can then prescribe certain prophylactic measures to prevent potential death and serious disability. The importance of these findings cannot be over emphasized,” added Dr. McLafferty.

Researchers also said that using ultrasound to test for vein dysfunction, an average of one in five people had evidence of at least one vein segment in a lower extremity that showed evidence of abnormal back-flow. Twenty-three percent of individuals had evidence of serious changes on their lower legs indicative of severe chronic vein dysfunction.

In the second year of the program, 1,185 participants have been analyzed from 56 centers. The mean age was 60 years (range 23 to 91 years). Seventy-six percent of the participants were female and 82 percent Caucasian. Forty-four percent had a body mass index of 25 or more; 38 percent were a current or previous smoker; 21 percent were taking antiplatelet therapy; and 6 percent were taking warfarin.

Of these participants, the amount of reflux of the common femoral vein was 10 percent in both the right and left legs. Obstruction was .6 percent in the right legs and .3 percent in the left legs. Saphenofemoral venous junction showed 15 percent in the reflux in the right leg and 14 percent in the left leg; there was 5 percent obstruction in the right leg and 3 percent in the left leg. The popliteal vein showed 5 percent reflux in both the right and left legs and 1 percent obstruction in the right leg but only .5 percent in the left leg. Following quality of life (QOL) assessment, 17 percent of the patients had a combined total score for all 11 questions of “very limited” or “impossible to do.”

Those who have screenings are given their personal results in a “report card.” They also receive educational materials about varicose veins, life-threatening blood clots that can occur in the veins of the legs which can potentially travel to the heart and lungs, and serious changes that can occur on the lower legs such as ulcers from long-term vein dysfunction. With this information, patients also are empowered to pass on knowledge to others.

“The jump in the number of centers indicates that there is a large increase of participants and interest in the United States in educating individuals about the devastating effects of venous disease,” said Dr. McLafferty. “Even as the population getting screened grows, venous disease prevalence continues to be high.”