Varicose Vein Foam has Promising Results

Ivanhoe Newswire

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Varicose veins -- theyre unsightly and down-right irritating. Injectable microfoam has been a standard treatment for spider veins and small varicose veins since 1997. But in Phase II trials, a new kind of foam is proving to be effective and less painful then the current sclerosant foams.

Varisolve, a foam made with carbon dioxide, is relatively painless compared to other sclerosants which can cause burning, John D. Regan, M.D., clinical director of the Interventional Section in the Department of Radiology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and presenting author of the trial, was quoted as saying.

Manufacturers say the Varisolve foam injection is less invasive than traditional laser treatments. It is injected into the sphenoid vein using a small catheter. The vein is compressed in the groin to trap the foam in the leg and additional foam is injected. The leg is then put into a compression dressing and stocking, and the patient is finished.

Although any air-based foam carries a theoretical risk to the patient because of the insolubility of air in the blood, the risk is small, Dr. Regan said. He added that based on the preliminary results, We believe that the carbon dioxide-based foam used in Varisolve will be totally safe due to the small size of the bubbles, the consistency of the foam and the solubility of carbon dioxide.

However, patients with a right-to-left shunt in their hearts may be at risk from the foam treatment. According to Dr. Regan, the risk to these patients is that foam bubbles could cross the shunt and go the brain without being filtered in the lungs.

In more than 90 percent of the 28 patients studied so far, tiny bubbles have been detected in the blood during the procedure, but researchers say there have been no visual, cardiac or neurological changes.

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SOURCE: Presented at the Society of Interventional Radiologys 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting, Washington D.C., March 15-20, 2008

Last updated 3/18/2008.

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