The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical efficacy of oral
Pycnogenol (Horphag Research Ltd., UK) in patients with severe chronic
venous insufficiency (CVI) in comparison to the combination of
diosmin and
hesperidin (
Daflon, Servier, France). A group of 86 patients with severe chronic
venous insufficiency (CVI), venous
hypertension, ankle swelling) and previous history of venous ulcerations received either oral
Pycnogenol (capsules) 150 mg or 300 mg daily for 8 weeks or
Daflon, 1,000 mg/day. All patients completed the study without dropouts. At the end of the study, microcirculatory results indicated: a progressive decrease of skin flux at rest (RF); a significant decrease in capillary filtration (RAS); an improvement in the symptomatic venous score (ASLS); a reduction in
edema; a significant improvement (increase) in pO(2) and a decrease in pCO(2) in the
Pycnogenol group. A significant level of improvement was reached after 4 weeks of treatment in most patients (p < .05) of the
Pycnogenol group while clinical improvement was significant only in 6 subjects in the
Daflon group. The positive effects of treatment with
Pycnogenol after 8 weeks were significantly larger in comparison with the
Daflon group. In conclusion, this study confirms the fast clinical efficacy of
Pycnogenol in patients with chronic
venous insufficiency and venous microangiopathy and its superiority-considering the evaluated parameters-to the combination of
diosmin and
hesperidin.