MR Venography for the Assessment of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Lower Extremities with Varicose Veins.

OBJECTIVE To assess the performance of magnetic resonance venography (MRV) for pelvis and deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities before surgical interventions for varicose veins. MATERIALS AND METHODS We enrolled 72 patients who underwent MRV and ultrasonography before stripping for varicose veins of lower extremities. All images of the deep venous systems were evaluated by time-of-flight MRV. RESULTS Forty-six patients (63.9%) of all were female. Mean age was 65.2 ± 10.2 years (37-81 years). There were forty patients (55.6%) with varicose veins in both legs. Two deep vein thrombosis (2.8%) and three iliac vein thrombosis (4.2%) were diagnosed. All patients without deep vein thrombosis underwent the stripping of saphenous veins, and post-thrombotic change was avoided in all cases. CONCLUSION MRV, without contrast medium, is considered clinically useful for the lower extremity venous system.