Racial disparities in the outcomes of superficial vein treatments for chronic venous insufficiency.

BACKGROUND

Chronic venous disease (CVD) affects >20 million people in the United States. Despite this huge prevalence, there are few data on whether the effectiveness of current CVD therapies for symptomatic superficial vein reflux is affected by race. The goal of this investigation was to evaluate CVD treatment outcomes in various races in the United States.

METHODS

From January 2015 to December 2017, we retrospectively reviewed and prospectively collected data from 66,621 patients who presented for CVD evaluation. We divided patients into five racial groups: African American, Asian, Hispanic, other (race not recorded), and white. Presenting signs and symptoms, treatment modalities, number of procedures per patient, and preintervention and postintervention revised Venous Clinical Severity Scores (rVCSSs) were evaluated. All racial groups were stratified by Clinical, Etiology, Anatomy, and Pathophysiology (CEAP) class for subgroup analysis.

RESULTS

The average age of the entire cohort was 56.8 ± 14.7 years, with 51,393 women (77%) and 15,228 men (23%). Prevalence by race was 17% African American, 3% Asian, 18% Hispanic, 8% others, and 55% white. There was a higher incidence of C0 disease in whites (44%) and African Americans (31%); C1 and C2 disease in whites (46% and 55%) and Hispanics (28% and 25%); and C3, C4, C5, and C6 disease in whites (60%, 57%, 58%, and 61%) and African Americans (19%, 17%, 19%, and 21%). Pain as an initial presenting symptom was more common in African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics (29%, 29%, and 31%). Swelling was highest in African Americans (18%) and cramping in Hispanics (14%). Skin changes and venous ulcers were most common in African Americans (16% and 21%) and whites (63% and 61%). With regard to the average number of procedures performed, Hispanics (1.98 ± 1.24) and others (2.07 ± 1.25) required fewer stand-alone ablations compared with whites (2.31 ± 1.56), Asians (2.36 ± 1.58), and African Americans (2.27 ± 1.56; P ≤ .0001. With the addition of phlebectomies to ablations, Hispanics (3.78 ± 2.08) continued to require fewer procedures, and Asians required the greatest number of phlebectomies compared with all groups (P ≤ .001). When ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy was added to ablation and phlebectomy, African Americans required more procedures compared with all races (4.38 ± 2.59; P ≤ .01). For stand-alone ablations, Hispanics (2.18 ± 2.34) and Asians (1.91 ± 2.35) demonstrated lower postprocedure rVCSSs compared with African Americans (2.79 ± 2.88) and whites (2.8 ± 2.85; P ≤ .0001). For ablations with phlebectomies, all races demonstrated similar results except for Hispanics (2.19 ± 2.14), who did better than whites (2.85 ± 2.75; P ≤ .002). For ablations with phlebectomies and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy, all races had similar results (P ≤ .0001).

CONCLUSIONS

In the United States, CVD is primarily observed in white women. There are differences in the incidence and prevalence of disease severity and symptom presentation based on race. The incidence of CVD decreases with age in all racial groups except whites. Hispanics required the fewest procedures and African Americans required the most for optimal results. Postintervention rVCSSs equalized in all races when ablations were combined with phlebectomies and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy.