Measurement of Venous Valvular Competency in the Legs

¹ From the Department of Physiology, University College of the West Indies, Jamaica, British West Indies

The object of these experiments was to demonstrate whether valves in the veins of the normal leg are competent, and to provide a means of measurement of the degree of valvular incompetency in patients suffering from varicose veins. This was done by draining the lower limbs in the head down position, then applying an occluding pressure cuff. The subject was placed in the head up position and the cuff was released either to zero or to 65 mm Hg. One of these procedures will release the arteries alone, and the other the arteries and veins. It was thus possible, in varicose subjects, to demonstrate plethysmographically a backflow of blood in the veins. This backflow was abolished following surgical ligation. The results also demonstrated that the valves in the veins of the normal subject are competent. The use of time flow rate curves provides additional useful information about this venous backflow phenomenon in varicose conditions.

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