New pathophysiological aspects in chronic venous disease

Chronic venous disease has been pathology of great interest over time. With its large prevalence among the world population (10-33% adult woman and 10-20% of men) through profound socio-professional implications that affect the quality of life of patients, chronic venous disease is a real public health problem, being an important cause of morbidity and disability, a permanent area of research in the medical-pharmaceutical field. Special attention is now given to identifying the mechanisms and stages of disease development. From studies that have highlighted the importance of venous hypertension as an essential element in the development of the disease, to this day it has come up to demonstrating the fundamental role of the venous endothelium and glycocalyx in triggering and progressing of chronic venous disease. Biochemical, immunohistochemical, and functional investigations have allowed the evaluation of changes that occur in cellular metabolism and evidence of some immune-vascular factors responsible for vascular alterations in chronic venous disease: specialized receptors, adhesion molecules, cytokines, matrix and metalloproteinases. The analysis of the pathophysiology of chronic venous disease is still a vast area open to scientific research.