Skin damage in chronic venous insufficiency: does an oxygen diffusion barrier really exist?

Eleven patients with lipodermatosclerosis (LDS) and 14 patients without venous or arterial disease underwent measurement of xenon-133 (133Xe) half-clearance times from the gaiter region of the leg. Xenon has similar diffusion characteristics to oxygen, and the investigation reflects the ability of the isotope to diffuse from the skin surface into capillary blood. Median skin half-clearance time for skin in the LDS group was 2.2 min and in the control group 2.1 min. From the subcutaneous tissues, the respective times were 14.1 and 17.4 minutes. These differences are not statistically significant. The study fails to yield evidence suggesting that an oxygen diffusion barrier exists in lipodermatosclerosis.