Chronic venous disease is more aggressive in patients with varicocele.

Aim. Chronic venous disease and varicocele are widespread in western countries and a possible association between this conditions may be postulated. Previous experience showed that lower limbs varicose veins is an independent risk factor for the presence of varicocele. A retrospective analysis has been conducted in a clinical single center in order to compare clinical aspects between both conditions. Methods. Medical records of 1042 male patients with chronic venous disease have been evaluated in order to calculate the prevalence of varicocele in this population and to perform statistical analysis on clinical aspects. Results. Study population was divided in two groups: group A consisted of 275 male patients with chronic venous disease and varicocele (26.39%) and group B consisted in 767 male patients with chronic venous disease and without varicocele (73.60%). 242 Group A patients (88%) was characterized by the pres- ence of severe signs and symptoms related to advanced clini- cal stages of chronic venous disease while only 352 patients in group B (54.11%) was affected. It was found that patients with varicocele had more severe clinical manifestations re- lated to chronic venous disease (Odds Ratio 6.22; P<0.00001). Conclusion. The identification of varicocele in male patients with chronic venous disease may predict for a more impor- tant clinical course. In fact in this group of patients the evo- lution of the disease toward C3-C6 clinical classes of CEAP classification was more evident