President Donald Trump has been recognized with chronic venous insufficiency, the White Home introduced on Thursday.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a letter from Trump’s doctor in a information convention, which stated Trump was examined after he observed “delicate” swelling in his legs.
Leavitt stated the doctor described the situation as “benign” and “frequent,” significantly amongst adults above age 70.
Leavitt added that the president is in “glorious well being” and that the physician’s full letter could be launched quickly.
This is what it’s worthwhile to know in regards to the situation, what signs it causes and the way it’s handled.
President Donald Trump attends the inaugural Pennsylvania Power and Innovation Summit on the campus of Carnegie Mellon College in Pittsburgh, July 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Photos
What’s persistent venous insufficiency?
Power venous insufficiency (CVI) is a circulatory situation during which the veins within the leg have problem returning blood again to the guts attributable to broken valves.
“Not like the arteries, the veins have valves that assist return blood to the guts,” Dr. Andrea Obi, vascular surgeon at College of Michigan Well being Frankel Cardiovascular Middle and affiliate professor of vascular surgical procedure at College of Michigan Medical Faculty, informed ABC Information.
She defined that there are bigger veins, known as deep veins, which return the majority of blood to the guts, and there are superficial veins, that are just below the pores and skin floor.
“When the valves fail, which means they do not adequately return blood to the guts, the blood can again up into the leg, and that is basically what venous insufficiency is,” Obi stated.
This will trigger blood to pool within the legs and result in leg swelling.
CVI is pretty frequent, affecting as much as 40% of the U.S. inhabitants, in line with the Society for Vascular Surgery.
Obi stated this determine could also be an underestimation as a result of CVI will not be detected on any routine screening check, and sufferers usually require a duplex ultrasound — a non-invasive imaging method to evaluate blood move and blood vessel construction — for analysis.
What are the signs?
Obi stated most CVI sufferers have delicate signs and the most typical manifestation is varicose veins, which happen when the blood swimming pools into the superficial veins just below the pores and skin.
The veins develop into swollen, which will be heavy, uncomfortable or painful for sufferers.
If sufferers have CVI within the deeper veins, they could expertise leg swelling across the ankle space and it could possibly lengthen up in the direction of the knee, Obi stated.
White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks throughout a press briefing within the Brady Press Briefing Room on the White Home, July 17, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Photos
In additional extreme instances, darkening of the pores and skin can happen and an open sore or ulcer might develop.
“When the blood swimming pools down close to the ankle degree, you may get discoloration, and it is a brown discoloration … and that brown discoloration is the results of the iron from the pink blood cells that kind of swimming pools there and will get picked up by your immune cells,” Obi stated.
Over time, this will make the pores and skin thick and unable to heal from minor trauma, which is when ulcers kind, she stated.
How is it handled?
Therapies are usually nonsurgical and are primarily to stop swelling and ulcers from forming, in line with the Society for Vascular Surgical procedure.
Obi stated if a affected person is discovered to have CVI by the way they usually haven’t got signs, there isn’t any want for remedy until signs come up.
First-line remedy can embrace compression, similar to sporting compression stockings or an elastic wrap. There are additionally dietary supplements sufferers can take to alleviate signs, Obi stated.
“Compression is the very very first thing that you simply prescribe after which, usually, if a affected person needs surgical intervention or one thing like that, you’ll strive compression first to see in the event that they get aid,” she stated. “In the event that they’re nonetheless symptomatic or not in a position to dwell their every day life, you then may proceed down the pathway of doing an intervention to attempt to assist them enhance their high quality of life.”
If superficial veins are affected, sufferers could obtain vein ablation, which is a minimally invasive process to shut the veins off, and elimination of the varicose veins.
If deep veins are affected, some sufferers could require an angioplasty to widen the slender or blocked veins, or stenting to revive blood move.
Obi stated even when somebody’s vein valves are susceptible to failing attributable to genetics or getting older, strolling might help overcome this.
“Your calf muscle will substitute on your valves, and your calf muscle will truly push the blood again as much as your coronary heart,” she stated. “We inform all our sufferers, ‘It is best to do some kind of strolling program to maintain that calf pump sturdy. The worst factor you are able to do is stand in your toes for lengthy durations of time and permit the blood to pool.”
