Cross-sectional study on heredity and venous disorders: the end of the dominant maternal heredity dogma?

Objective: To evaluate the heredity factor of the chronic venous disorders and odds ratio linked to maternal or paternal heredity. Methods: Cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted in daily practice of medical practitioners on all patients consulting them. The practitioners described the venous status of all patients consulting them and recorded the familial past history of venous disease. Results: Among 21319 patients, 60.4% have a familial history of chronic venous disorder: unilateral paternal 7.5%, unilateral maternal 40.9% and bilateral: 12.0%. Chronic venous disorder prevalence is 58.8% in the global population, 38.2% in the absence of parental history, 67.0% for unilateral paternal, 71.3% for unilateral maternal and 79.2% for bilateral (p < 0.0001). After adjustment on age and sex, results show significant (p < 0.0001) odds ratio of 3.2 for unilateral paternal, of 3.4 for unilateral maternal and of 5.6 for a history in both parents. In the context of a history in both parents, the odds ratio increased to 5.6 for women and 8.4 for men. Conclusion: This large cross-sectional study confirms the association between heredity and venous disease, but its results could call into question the maternal predominant character of the chronic venous disorder heredity.