[The development of varicose veins in children and adolescents].

The aim of the present prospective epidemiological study was to find the genesis of varicosis in pupils of the same age group in 11 secondary schools of the town of Bochum. The studies were always carried out in the same pupils of the 5th, 9th and 13th grades (Bochum studies I, II, III). The results of the first and second studies on 518 pupils are compared. In the children aged between 10 and 12 years of Bochum study I, isolated refluxes were found at the saphenofemoral junction (internal saphenous vein 2.9%, external saphenous vein 0.2%), but no varicose vein was yet visible at the trunk level or that of the lateral branches. In the adolescents aged between 14 and 16 years of Bochum study II, the number of refluxes of the internal and external saphenous vein had greatly increased, and isolated varicose veins were found at the trunk level or that of the lateral branches, as well as insufficient perforating veins. The varicose veins visible at the trunk level are obviously preceded by the refluxes. For the first time, an easily detectable preclinical sign offering new perspectives for a primary prophylaxis in thus available. Discrete reticular varicose veins were already found in Bochum study I (10.2%). A photoplethysmographic discrimination between the normal results and the various forms of a starting varicosis revealed in the course of Bochum study II has not been possible. Up to now, no statistical proof of a family taint has been established.