Improvement of signs and symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency and microangiopathy with Pycnogenol®: a prospective, controlled study.

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of standardized French maritime pine bark extract Pycnogenol ® in patients with severe chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). 98 subjects with symptomatic CVI and edema were randomly assigned to one group treated with 150 mg Pycnogenol a day only, another group with stockings only and a third group with both Pycnogenol and elastic stockings. The average ambulatory venous pressure (AVP) at inclusion was 58 ± 7 mm Hg (range 48–60 mm Hg) with a refilling time (RT)  After 8 weeks treatment there was a significant decrease of rate of ankle swelling, resting flux, transcutaneous pO 2 and clinical symptom scores in all groups with significantly better results for the combination treatment. Pycnogenol alone was more effective than compression alone for all parameters ( p This study corroborates a significant clinical role for Pycnogenol in the management, treatment and control of CVI also in combination with compression.