Venous diseases are among the major causes of morbidity and mortality in The Czech Republic. The incidence of venous diseases increases rapidly with age, especially in those older than 65 years. Among discussed entities is the most important deep venous thrombosis and its complications – pulmonary embolism and postthrombotic syndrome. We discuss epidemiology of acute and chronic venous diseases in context of risk factors and offer a short outline of currently applied therapy. Then we focus on the new perspective possibilities of treatment of venous diseases especially in acute states (including local thrombolysis), on its influence of quality of life, on the progression of diseases into chronic states and on its socioeconomic consequences.

        Key words: epidemiology, venous diseases, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, chronic venous insuficiency postthrombotic syndrome, local venous thrombolysis, angioplasty.