5. Aetiology & Pathology
PVD is a syndrome diagnosis. This means that there is no clear nosological explanation available, no clear cause-consequence mechanism, no reliable prognosis, and therefore also no clear cut therapy. However recent literature points out a number of risk factors. These risk factors are the outcome of epidemiological research and give no guarantee of causality. Successively we will discuss:
- some risk factors and indicators
- onset characteristics
- pathologic substrate
- psychosomatic working model