Twenty Years' Experience with Endovenous Laser Ablation for Varicose Veins: A Critical Appraisal of the Original Procedure.

Objective: A critical appraisal of the original procedure of endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) for varicose veins.

Method: Evaluation of all practical aspects of the procedure.

Results: EVLA procedures are performed in a strictly ambulatory setting with tumescent local anesthesia (TLA).

Histopathologic studies of the below-the-knee great saphenous vein after endovenous laser ablation.

Background: There has been hesitation to use endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) for the treatment of incompetence of the below-the-knee great saphenous vein (GSV).

Objective: To assess early pathologic changes in the below-the-knee nonvaricose GSV and adjacent tissue after EVLA in legs scheduled for below-the-knee amputation.

Methods: The below-the-knee GSV in five patients was exposed to EVLA using 14-, 12-, and 10-watt laser power with continuous or intermittent laser exposure using a 600-nm core, bare tip fiber.

Is there recanalization of the great saphenous vein 2 years after endovenous laser treatment?

Purpose: To report the 2-year single-center results of endovenous laser treatment (EVLT) for reflux in the great saphenous vein (GSV).

Methods: From January 2002 to January 2003, 85 symptomatic patients (56 women; mean age 49 years, range 27-80) underwent EVLT in 100 limbs. All patients were symptomatic, and the majority (67, 79%) had CEAP clinical class C2 venous disease.

Milia en plaque successfully treated by dermabrasion.

Background: Milia en plaque is a rarely described benign lesion characterized by milia within an erythematous base, usually located periauricularly. No optimal treatment is known.

Objective: To illustrate by a case report the clinical presentation and effect of dermabrasion on milia en plaque.

Duplex ultrasonography-guided foam sclerotherapy of incompetent perforator veins in a patient with bilateral venous leg ulcers.

Background: Recent advances in the form of foam sclerotherapy have extended the indications for sclerotherapy in the treatment of varicose veins.

Objectives: (1) To see if perforator veins can be closed by using foam sclerotherapy; (2) to evaluate whether using foam sclerotherapy for treatment of incompetent perforator veins has an influence on venous leg ulcer healing.

Methods: Incompetent perforator veins above bilateral venous leg ulcers were treated with duplex ultrasonography-guided sclerotherapy using polidocanol foam.