Dr. Min of Cornell Radiology - Discussion of EVLT

Margo DeSantis used to cringe every time she would put on her tennis skirt, wishing she could hide the varicose veins on her leg. But it wasn't worth it to her to undergo surgery that would have involved incisions every two inches up and down her leg to rip the vein out and the scarring that would result.

It was ten years before she learned that interventional radiologists perform a nonsurgical procedure that's done in a doctor's office, takes an hour or less and involves incisions that are smaller than a pencil point.

DeSantis is not alone. Many of the 25 million people in the U.S. that suffer from varicose veins (one out of every two adults over 50) are unaware of the nonsurgical option, because most people have never heard of interventional radiologists.

These doctors are board certified vascular specialists who offer minimally invasive, targeted treatments throughout the body. To treat varicose veins, they make a small nick in the skin, then use ultrasound imaging to thread a laser up the vein to seal it, redirecting blood flow to healthy veins.

Patients can return to normal activities almost immediately. As DeSantis says "there is nothing that I can't wear anymore."

You can read more about the treatment and find an interventional radiologist in your area at www.SIRweb.org

Produced for Society of Interventional Radiology

Featuring Dr. Robert Min MD of Cornell Radiology