Infrared Thermography Can Complement Diagnosis and Follow up of Chronic Superficial Venous Disease

Objective: There is a very well known correlation between body temperature and disease. With the development of new technologies,  its measurement can be used as a safe and effective tool to diagnose and follow diseases. Infrared thermography has the advantages of being a non-invasive, safe, fast and reproductible method. In clinical diagnosis is used as a physiological test that measures heat emission related to physiological changes, in this case, chronic venous disease that is derived from venous hypertension from different origins. Physical exam and doppler ultrasound evaluation are required to accurately determine locations of venous reflux, thermography can help complement  assessment in a quick and visual form.

Methods: We present several images of patients diagnosed with chronic venous disease C2 and C3, with axial and perforants reflux identified by doppler ultrasound pre and one week post surgical procedure.

Results: In the pre-op images can be observed hyperthermic zones correlated to varicous veins and venous hypertension in the superficial venous system. When comparing them with the post-op, those hyperthermic images were no longer present with a more uniform temperature along the legs.

Conclusions: Infrared thermography can be a safe and non-invasive technology to complement diagnosis and follow up of patients with chronic superficial venous disease.