Publications by authors named "Mark Whiteley"

Background: Pelvic venous disorders (PeVD), previously "Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS)" is usually defined as a female health problem. However, it is our impression that gynaecologists rarely recognise this condition, and most of the research interest appears to be by vascular and venous surgeons, and radiologists. The aim of this study was to investigate if there was evidence to support this view.

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Background: The rapid development of less invasive and traumatic medical procedures has resulted in a mixture of terms used to describe them, without any agreed definition for each. This is confusing to both medical professionals and patients and can lead to unrealistic patient expectations. The aim of this article is to show the current confused nomenclature and to suggest a new, simple classification based on access and invasiveness (AI) that can be applied to any medical procedure.

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Background: Inadvertent intra-arterial injection of sclerosants is an uncommon adverse event of both ultrasound-guided and direct vision sclerotherapy. This complication can result in significant tissue or limb loss and significant long-term morbidity.

Objectives: To provide recommendations for diagnosis and immediate management of an unintentional intra-arterial injection of sclerosing agents.

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Objective: To identify the effects of patient risk factors and pelvic venous reflux (PVR) patterns on treatment outcomes of Pelvic Vein Embolisation (PVE) for Pelvic Venous Disorder (PeVD).

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort review assessing population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) for women undergoing PVE for PVR January 2017-January 2021. We identified 190 patients who had completed both questionnaires and who had given consent for their information to be used for research (Median age 46, IQR 40-52).

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Introduction: Endovenous therapy is the first choice management for symptomatic varicose veins in NICE guidelines, with 56-70 000 procedures performed annually in the UK. Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a known complication of endovenous therapy, occurring at a rate of up to 3.4%.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to find equivalent parameters for Endovenous Microwave Ablation (EMWA) compared to Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA) for effectively treating incompetent truncal veins, using a validated porcine liver model.
  • Different power settings (35-75 W) and pullback speeds (4-9 s/cm) were tested with EMWA, showing that EMWA requires significantly higher Linear Endovenous Energy Densities (LEEDs) (3.9-5.8 times) than EVLA for similar tissue ablation results.
  • The findings indicate that while EMWA operates at higher power settings, the identified parameters can achieve comparable tissue ablation to EVLA
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A 42-year-old man presented with very large lower limb varicose veins bilaterally and an 8-month history of fainting when standing up from a squatting position. He had been investigated for syncope by a cardiologist with no abnormality found on electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, 24-h electrocardiogram or 48-h blood pressure monitoring. Venous duplex ultrasonography showed bilaterally great saphenous vein reflux, with each vein having a diameter of 23.

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Objective: The aim was to retrieve and analyse the serious adverse events of venous occlusion systems used in cyanoacrylate adhesive closure (CAC) submitted to regulatory agencies.

Methods: The (TPLC) database of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the (DAEN) of the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), and the database of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) were reviewed. Three Freedom of Information (FOI) requests had to be submitted to the MHRA to obtain data.

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Background: Cellulite affects 80-90% of post-pubertal females and, although cosmetic, has proven adverse psychological effects. A new compression garment with patented "vari-pad" technology has been developed, aiming to stimulate lymphatic return from the buttocks and thighs. The primary aim of this small pilot study was to assess participant satisfaction after using this garment in the short term and secondarily, to look for any objective improvements.

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Background: Sclerotherapy is a non-invasive procedure commonly used to treat superficial venous disease, vascular malformations and other ectatic vascular lesions. While extremely rare, sclerotherapy may be complicated by serious adverse events.

Objectives: To categorise contraindications to sclerotherapy based on the available scientific evidence.

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Background: Linear Endovenous Energy Density (LEED) is the energy used per cm of vein in endovenous thermal ablation (EVTA) but does not include time. This study examines the effect of time during EVTA.

Method: EVTA was performed in a previously validated porcine liver model.

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A 43-year-old woman presented with localised areas of prominent, tender superficial veins in her right arm and both legs, and chest pain, following the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine and possible contemporaneous Covid-19 infection. Electrocardiogram, troponin and d-dimer had all been normal. However, a venous duplex ultrasound scan showed a perivenous inflammation without thrombosis in the areas of her limbs with prominent tender veins, but not elsewhere.

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This article outlines the current best practice in the management of varicose veins. "Varicose veins" traditionally means bulging veins, usually seen on the legs, when standing. It is now a general term used to describe these bulging veins, and also underlying incompetent veins that reflux and cause the surface varicose veins.

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Introduction: Endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) using 1470 nm, which targets water as its chromophore, has become the standard endovenous thermal treatment for incompetent truncal veins. Recently, there has been growing interest in the use of 1940 nm, due to the greater absorption by water. This increased absorption has led to claims that, with the longer wavelength, less power is needed to achieve the same biological effect during treatment, resulting in fewer adverse post-operative sequelae.

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Current endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) practice favours 1470 nm, as water is a major chromophore for this wavelength. Water has a greater affinity for 1940 nm, leading to claims that lower powers or linear endovenous energy densities (LEEDs) are needed. We compared the thermal spread and carbonisation of EVLA using these two wavelengths, in the porcine liver model.

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A 70-year-old man presented to our vein clinic with intermittent and recurrent left testicular and groin pain, clinically resembling epididymo-orchitis. He had never had any genitourinary problems until contracting a severe flu-like illness in January 2020, strongly suspected to have been Covid-19. He had failed to respond on four separate occasions to antibiotics prescribed by his GP and had only responded on these occasions to aspirin.

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A 48-year-old woman attended to discuss a dilemma. She had suffered a cardiac arrest immediately following microsclerotherapy of leg telangiectasia with 0.3% aethoxysklerol.

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Endovenous thermal ablation is a first-line treatment for symptomatic varicose veins due to truncal vein reflux. Ablation of an incompetent great saphenous vein is usually performed from distally, with the vein access at the lowest point of reflux, or just below the knee. Occasionally there are patients in whom the great saphenous vein is difficult to access distally for reasons such as small vein diameter, scar tissue, vasospasm, difficult anatomy or multiple attempts with haematoma formation.

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Background: Successful endovenous thermoablation relies on transmural vein wall ablation. We investigated the pattern of thermal spread and tissue carbonisation from RadioFrequency-induced ThermoTherapy (RFiTT) at different powers and pull back methods, using a porcine liver model.

Methods: We used a previously validated porcine liver model.

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Objective: International guidelines recommend endovenous laser ablation as one of the first-line treatments for truncal venous reflux associated with varicose veins. Clinicians use linear endovenous energy density to measure the energy used during treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the power output from the fiber tip and to see if this changed with use.

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