The Basic Epidemiology of Acute and Chronic Venous Diseases

Overview

Venous diseases are among the major causes of morbidity and mortality in The Czech Republic. The incidence ofvenous diseases increases rapidly with age, especially in those older than 65 years. Among discussed entities is themost important deep venous thrombosis and its complications – pulmonary embolism and postthrombotic syndrome.We discuss epidemiology of acute and chronic venous diseases in context of risk factors and offer a short outline ofcurrently applied therapy. Then we focus on the new perspective possibilities of treatment of venous diseasesespecially in acute states (including local thrombolysis), on its influence of quality of life, on the progression ofdiseases into chronic states and on its socioeconomic consequences.

Key words:
epidemiology, venous diseases, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, chronic venousinsuficiency postthrombotic syndrome, local venous thrombolysis, angioplasty.