Abstract
New guidelines for diagnosing and treating chronic venous diseases have recently been published in the International Angiologyjournal which is the official journal of the International Union of Angiology (IUA). The document was created under the supervisionof several international societies, i.e. not only the IUA, but also involved were the European Venous Forum, the CardiovascularDisease Educational and Research Trust, and Union Internationale de Phlebologie.
The main editor of these guidelines is AndrewNicolaides. Altogehter, they were prepared and developed by more than 40 renowned authors.
Very comprehensive is the chapteron the pathophysiology of chronic venous diseases with respect to therapeutic pharmacological options. Conclusions on thetreatment with venoactive drugs dealt with in Chapter 8 have been eagerly awaited, with the most evidence of benefit havingbeen found for a micronized purified flavonoid fraction of diosmin with hesperidin.
Special chapters address the issue of theextent of tests needed to precisely determine the status of venous disease, and that of compression therapy. On the other hand,methods for eliminating varices are not discussed.