ACP grows, strengthens positions on vein, lymphatic advocacy By Vanessa Salvia From Christopher Pittman MD’s perch as chair of the American College of Phlebology’s Healthcare Advocacy Committee, he sees an organization poised to do great work on vein and lymphatic advocacy. The vision is there, changes to
the organization’s infrastructure have been made and the way forward has been sketched out. “Soon the ACP will be the foremost venous and lymphatic medicine organization in the country working on advocacy,” said Dr. Pittman, a vascular and interventional radiologist who leads the team at Vein911 in Tampa, Fla.
As the ACP’s delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA) and with 30 years of medical political leadership including numerous board and chair positions and committee ADVOCACY
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INSIDE 10.8M women have P.A.D.;40M, CVD A wound-care powerhouse Atrius Health trying Empathy forum Team finds VTE biomarker for cancer Study links varicose veins and DVT
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ELVA, radial tip on 1470 a ‘game-changer’ By Robert Jennejahn and Larry Storer Because physicians have had Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Category 1 codes to make it easier to bill for foam sclerosant procedures for eight months now, much has been written about success stories using Varithena and VenaSeal. But endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) procedures have experienced a high rate of success and a low rate of complication for treating varicose veins for years before Polidocanol injectable foam was around. Patients make a choice of treatment on advice from their doctors, and most patients want to know how much the procedure will cost, how painful is it going to be, and how long is the recovery period going to last.
Doctors make their recommendation by considering the growing number of tools they have at their disposal. There was a time when that recommendation was generally made between EVLA and RFA. For many doctors, that is still the decision that guides their recommendation to their patient. EVLA delivers minimally invasive thermal energy targeting the wall of the vein. This energy produces occlusion, fibrosis and the vein will shrink and collapse. Blood flow will then be directed to other healthier veins. Diode lasers can be used at the desired wave lengths of 1470nm, 1320nm, 980nm, 940nm and 810nm.
RADIAL TIP
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Polidocanol injected foam...
Product solves issue when veins don’t take a straight path By Ajit Naidu, MD An estimated one-third of the population in Western countries has untreated venous disease.1 Some of these individuals have lived with debilitating symptoms of venous
insufficiency for a decade or more because their primary care physicians or OB/GYNs have told them that the only treatment is compression stockings or diuretics. Others with problematic venous anatomy – tortuous veins, calcifications or thrombus in vein segments, refluxing veins below mid-calf – may have been dissuaded from treatment by vein specialists who prefer catheter-based thermal ablation. And then there are patients who’ve had previous thermal ablation or phlebectomy for varicose veins and vow never to repeat uncomfortable procedures
involving multiple needle sticks, numerous incisions, bruising, and significant recovery time. Polidocanol injectable foam (Varithena from BTG International) solves many clinical problems in treating varicose veins and refluxing truncal veins. Polidocanol microfoam is indicated for treatment of incompetent great saphenous veins (GSV), accessory saphenous veins, and visible varicosities of the GSV system above and below the knee. Microfoam sclerosant therapy poses no risk of saphenous nerve paresthesia, a known complication of laser and radiofrequency ablation, and it effectively treats tortuous varicose branches not amenable to catheter-based ablation technologies. Polidocanol microfoam flows into tributaries and varicosities, shutting them down in addition to the veins being treated. POLIDOCANOL
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