Christiana Care introduces Center for Comprehensive Venous Health

Chronic venous disease affects millions of Americans, with 600,000 to 1 million people experiencing vein clotting abnormalities each year. These clotting abnormalities can lead to pulmonary embolism, which cause up to 180,000 deaths annually. But until now, there has never been one place to treat deep and superficial vein-based health issues in our region.

The Center for Comprehensive Venous Health comprises nationally renowned physicians able to perform a variety of procedures, such as IVC filter evaluation, and treatments for all venous diseases, including deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, venous malformations and less severe vein conditions such as insufficiency and varicose veins.

“We recognized that there is a substantial portion of the population dealing with these issues, and they’d previously been forced to travel from place to place for the care they need. Or they were told there was little that could be done,” said Mark J. Garcia, M.D., MS, FSIR, medical director, Center for Comprehensive Venous Health. “We have the cutting-edge tools and internationally recognized expertise to make a real difference in these patients’ lives. We want to meet with them and collaborate with other doctors and researchers to have a huge impact here and across the world.”

Varicose veins are among the most well-known and frequently treated forms of venous disease. Too often, though, such treatments are cosmetic, Dr. Garcia said.

The Center for Comprehensive Venous Health can offer minimally invasive treatments that shut down the portion of a vein causing blockage or reversal of blood flow and substantially reduce pressure and resulting discomfort.

“The vast majority of the medical community does not yet realize we can now do what was previously thought to be impossible,” he said. “We can dramatically improve blood flow in affected legs and improve the quality of life of these patients.”

Dr. Garcia and his colleagues plan to take their expertise out to the regional community and beyond.

“We’ve seen more and more people coming to us from afar, and we are determined to craft for them and their physicians effective outreach and education programs. These are serious issues potentially affecting people of all ages and that, if untreated, can result in swelling, ulcers, gangrene and even amputations. We are looking forward to sharing the talent of all of these doctors and the work and research that has put us at the forefront of this important issue.”