REVISION OF THE CEAP CLASSIFICATION

ACTA FAC MED NAISS 2008; 25 (1): 3-10

Professional article

REVISION OF THE CEAP CLASSIFICATION FOR CHRONIC VENOUS ISORDERS: CONSENSUS STATEMENT*

Bo Eklof, MD^J,Robert B. Rutherford, MD^b, John J. Bergan, MD^c, Patrick H. Carpentier, MD^d, Peter Gloviczki, MD^c, Robert L. Kistner, MD/ Mark H. Meissner, MD^S, Gregory L. Moneta, MD⁸, Kenneth Myers, MD^!, Frank T. Padberg, MD`, Michel Perrin, MD^k, C. Vaughan Ruckley, MD`, Philip Coleridge Smith, MD``, and Thomas W. Wakefield, MD``, for the American Venous Forum International Ad Hoc Committee for Revision of the CEAP Classification, Helsingborg, Sweden

1 From the University of Lund, Sweden, University of Colorado, Denver, University of California San Thego, University of Grenoble, France, Mayo Clinic,

Rochester, Minn, University of Hawaii,' Honolulu, University of Washington, Seattle, Oregon Health Science Center University, Portland, University of

Melbourne, Australia, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,' Newark, University of Lyon, France, Universitv of Edinburgh,' United Kingdom,

University College London Medical School,™ United Kingdom, and University of Michigan,"AnnArbor.

Competition of interest: none.

Presented at the SixteenthAnnual Meeting of theAmericanVenous Forum, Orlando, Fla, Feb 26-29,

Additional material for this article may be found online atwww.mosby. com/jvs.

Reprint requests: Bo Eklof,MD,PhD, Batteritorget 8, SE-25270 Helsingborg, Sweden (e-mail: moboek@telia.com).

0741-5214/130.00

*This is a Licence Agreement between Bo Eklof and Elsevier Limited. Elsevier hereby grants the permission to reproduce the aforementioned material subject to the terms and conditions indicated doi:10.1016/j.jvs.2004.09.027

SUMMARY

The CEAP classification for chronic venous disorders (CVD) was developed in 1994 by an international ad hoc committee of the American Venous Forum, endorsed by the Society for Vascular Surgery, and incorporated into "Reporting Standards in Venous Disease" in 1995. Today most published clinical papers on CVD use all or portions of CEAP.

Rather than have it stand as a static classification system, an ad hoc committee of the American Venous Forum, working with an international liaison committee, has recommended a number of practical changes, detailed in this consensus report. These include refinement of several definitions used in describing CVD; refinement of the C classes of CEAP; addition of the descriptor n (no venous abnormality identified); elaboration of the date of classification and level of investigation; and as a simpler alternative to the full (advanced) CEAP classification, introduction of a basic CEAP version. It is important to stress that CEAP is a descriptive classification, whereas venous severity scoring and quality of life scores are instruments for longitudinal research to assess outcomes. (J Vase Surg 2004;40:1248-52.)