title: Varicose veins are common in patients with coronary artery ectasia. Just a coincidence or a systemic deficit of the vascular wall?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Coronary artery ectasia (CAE), an uncommon finding during coronary arteriography, has been associated with the presence of aneurysm(s) in other parts of the arterial tree including the abdominal aorta. Varicose veins (VV) or phlebectasias are a common disorder of the superficial leg veins. Correlations between arterial and venous ectasias have not been established. We sought to examine whether there is an association between CAE and VV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CAE was diagnosed in 181 patients out of 7510 eligible patients undergoing coronary arteriography within 33 months. The prevalence of VV was significantly higher among patients with CAE (40%) compared to 200 aged-matched patients with coronary artery disease but without CAE (17%) and to 201 randomly selected subjects from the general population (23%). In multivariate analysis, CAE was found to be significantly and independently associated with VV (RR=3.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.24-5.59, p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study population, VV were more common in patients with CAE than in those without. This association was valid in both univariate and multivariate analysis, suggesting the possible existence of a generalised defect of the entire vascular wall.
authors.affiliation: Department of State Cardiac, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Androulakis
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Katsaros
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Kartalis
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Stougiannos
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Andrikopoulos
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Triantafyllidi
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Pantazis
authors.forename: C I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Stefanadis
authors.forename: I E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Kallikazaros
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology