Vein, Vein, Go Away

In October the varicose vein in Marcia Stern’s leg hemorrhaged, turning her leg black and blue. For years she had resisted treatment because she was repulsed by the thought of vein stripping —after incisions are made below and above the vein, a wire is threaded up the vein to the first incision and the vein is pulled out. “It seemed barbaric,” says Stern. But now she had to take action, so she began investigating her options. When she came across an announcement about NYU’s new Vein Center, which specializes in innovative, minimally invasive procedures to treat venous diseases such as varicose, reticular, and spider veins, she said to herself: “This is perfect.”

“People have tended to treat varicose veins as a cosmetic issue, when in fact there can be significant medical consequences over the long term,” says Mark Adelman, M.D., Chief of Vascular Surgery and Associate Professor of Surgery. As veins swell, he explains, a person may suffer from symptoms of throbbing and engorgement, the skin may begin to break down, turning brown and swollen, and walking may become extremely painful. “Since these symptoms are not threatening to life or limb,” adds Dr. Adelman, “historically the medical community has not taken them very seriously.”

At the NYU Vein Center, one of only a handful of such facilities in academic medical centers in the country, seven vascular surgeons employ minimally invasive procedures such as lasers, radio frequency (the application of electrical energy to shrink vessels), and relatively painless injections to close veins. “With these new procedures, recovery is very, very quick,” says Lowell Kabnick, M.D., Director of the Center and Associate Professor of Surgery, who is an internationally recognized leader in the diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment of venous disorders.

Stern agrees. She walked out of the office after her procedure, needing only Tylenol that night for her discomfort, and went back to work the next day.

For more information on the Vein Center, please call (212) 263-8346 or visit www.nyuvein.org.

Article originally published in News & Views, Spring 2008.