Abstract
Pelvic venous insufficiency is now a well-characterized etiology of pelvic congestion
syndrome (PCS). The prevalence of CPP is 15% in females aged 18 to 50 years in the
United States and up to 43.4% worldwide. In addition to individual physical, emotional,
and quality-of-life implications of CPP, there are profound healthcare and socioeconomic
expenses with estimated annual direct and indirect costs in the United States in excess
of 39 billion dollars. PCS consists of clinical symptoms with concomitant anatomic
and physiologic abnormalities originating in venous insufficiency. The etiology of
PCS is diverse involving both mechanical and hormonal factors contributing to venous
dilatation (>5 mm) and insufficiency. Factors affecting the diagnosis of PCS include
variance of causes and clinical presentations of pelvic pain and relatively low sensitivity
of noninvasive diagnostic imaging and laparoscopy to identify insufficiency compared
with catheter venogram. A systematic review of the literature evaluating patient outcomes
following percutaneous treatment of PCS is presented.
Keywords
interventional radiology - pelvic congestion syndrome - pelvic pain - venous reflux
- embolization
