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.