Welcome to the latest edition of Vein Magazine! As we enter 2023, get ready for an exciting year ahead. The American Vein and Lymphatic Society (AVLS) congress and the 2023 International Union of Phlebology (UIP) World Congress are set to merge for a global collaboration like no other. This edition of Vein marks the start of this thrilling journey leading to the incredible meeting in Miami this September.

Just like the Olympics, which originated in Olympia, Greece, and were attended by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, UIP gathers titans of our discipline every four years. The first illustration of a varicose vein can be traced back to 400 BCE (a votive tablet found at the base of the Acropolis). Hippocrates noticed the correlation between veins and leg ulcers and recommended treatment for varicose veins.

Seeing how far we've come in the past two millennia is amazing. Hippocrates would be proud of our progress!

We are all excited to converge on Miami, a modern international crossroads, replete with multicultural,
multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual pluralism that can only be seen in South Florida. I am blessed to live in the mix of it all, so I look forward to spending time with many friends in our industry worldwide.

In honor of all of this once-every-four-years professional excitement, we dedicated this issue of Vein to promoting the broadening of our American perspectives to include what is happening in different corners of the world, even our virtual world.

• Dr. Monika Gloviczki et al. survey vein care in three different countries and compare it to that of the United States.
• Dr. Manu Aggarwal speaks with Dr. Brett Carroll about his recent visit to the world-renowned Földi clinic for insight into how our European colleagues handle lymphedema and lipedema.
• My colleague David Wright and I also partook in the global theme and offered a round-up of fascinating data from several countries about the impact of point-of-care thermography on venous patients.

One of the most cutting-edge topics this year is all the machine learning adaptations to our already growing body of knowledge.

Earlier this year, an artificial intelligence (AI) language model called ChatGPT proliferated. So far, I have asked ChatGPT to return my university emails, design and write the first version of a research project, and even write an article in my writing style for this magazine. While not yet perfected (ChatGPT “hallucinations” are an interesting occurrence that can spew misinformation), it is clear that the possibilities and prospects of AI are endless.

Before I go, I want to draw your attention to one last item, a first at Vein Magazine – our very first reader
choice award. We’re excited to bring this new award event to our worthy community. We ask for your help in nominating your favorite venous and lymphatic specialists who may deserve extra recognition from their colleagues. See here for the categories and ways to vote. Please take the time to nominate someone you think might deserve it.

Just like the ancient Greeks in Olympia, let’s celebrate each other’s accomplishments with wine, great spirits, and a sense of hope that we can make a global difference in the health of our patients. I look forward to seeing all of you there!