Mark Whiteley

Mark Whiteley
Professor Mark Whiteley May 2013
Born	1962[1] Bristol, England
Nationality	British
Education	King Edward's School, Bath
Occupation	Vascular surgeon; Visiting Professor University of Surrey
Years active	1992 to present
Known for	Founding The Whiteley Clinic; Inventing the TRLOP surgical technique; Describing PAVA; Founding the College of Phlebology; Founding the Leg Ulcer Charity
Website
The Whiteley Clinic; College of Phlebology; The Leg Ulcer Charity

Mark Whiteley is a British vascular surgeon. In 1995 he became a lecturer at Oxford University. Whiteley was the first surgeon in the UK to perform keyhole surgery on patients for the treatment of varicose veins. In 2001 became the founder of The Whiteley Clinic is located in Guildford, Surrey.^[2] In 2011 he founded The College of Phlebology and in 2013 he founded the Leg Ulcer Charity. In in 2012 he was invited on to the Council of The Venous Forum at The Royal Society of Medicine and 2014 he became a director of the venous course at The Charing Cross Symposium.^[3]

Education and early medical career

Whiteley qualified as a doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital London in 1986. Following his training as a surgeon, in 1992 he began specializing in vascular surgery. In 1994 he completed work for a Masters in Surgery, and became a lecturer at Oxford University in 1995. In 1998 he was appointed a consultant vascular surgeon in Guildford. In March 1999 he performed the first UK keyhole surgery to eliminate varicose veins.^[4] In 2000 he, alongside Judy Holdstock, then invented the TRLOP to treat perforating veins using a more advanced keyhole technique.^[5] In 2013 Whiteley was named a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey.^[6]

The Whiteley Clinic

In July 2001 Whiteley founded The Whiteley Clinic where he continued his surgical career.^[5] Founded on the Surrey Research Park in Guildford, in 2014 the clinic expanded into London^[7] and Bristol.^[8]

Varicose veins surgery

In 2000 The Daily Telegraph wrote of Whiteley's keyhole techniques that, "Most patients still need a general anaesthetic and a night in hospital. Some may have tiny cuts where surface veins are removed, but the risk of post-operative infection is reduced because there is no wound. Mr Whiteley said the procedure had been 100 per cent successful in 130 patients so far treated. Between three and 26 per cent of patients who had traditional surgery suffered a recurrence." The surgical technique also drastically reduced recovery time, from a few weeks to a few days.^[9] In 2004 Whiteley was the first UK physician to describe the endovenous heat induced thrombosis for the treatment of varicose veins.^[10] In 2010 he called for the end of varicose vein stripping in the national media, pointing out the advantages of endovenous laser or "endovenous themoablation" ^[11] which 3 and a half years later became the Clinical Guidance from NICE (National Institute of Health and Clinical Evidence) CG 168.^[12] In 2012 Whiteley began using a new method of treating varicose veins using a kind of medical superglue called VenaSeal, which reduced the procedure time to approximately half an hour and removed the need for a general anaesthetic.^[13]

Incompetent Perforating Veins

The role of the incompetent perforator vein in varicose veins and venous disease is controversial. Prof Mark Whiteley showed an association between incompetent perforating veins and recurrent varicose veins in 2001^[14] and in the same year developed the TRansLuminal Occlusion of Perforator (TRLOP)^[15] technique to treat them minimally invasively. The TRLOP technique was copied and renamed "Percutaneous Ablation of Perforators" (PAPs) in 2007^[16] despite the five year results of TRLOP being published shortly afterwards.^[17] The apparent attempt to rename and hence take credit for describing the TRLOP technique surfaced in published form with a letter written by Professor Mark Whiteley to Phlebology.^[18] Regardless of the name given to the TRLOP technique, the controversy as to whether incompetent perforating veins need treating in patients with varicose veins continues and Professor Whiteley was invited to document his views in a published "transatlantic debate" in September 2014.^[19]

Pelvic Vein Embolisation

In 2000, Prof Mark Whiteley made the association between some leg varicose veins and pelvic venous reflux (PVR). With his team, Professor Mark Whiteley popularised transvaginal duplex ultrasound to diagnose the pelvic vein relfux and pelvic vein embolisation as the treatment of choice.^[20] Along with Alice Whiteley, his daughter and also one of the Whiteley Clinic Summer Research Fellows in 2012, they identified that untreated pelvic vein reflux was a common cause of recurrent varicose veins.^[21]

Primary Avalvular Varicose Anomalies (PAVA)

In 2013, Professor Mark Whiteley and his team described a new sort of vein associated with varicose veins. Primary Avalvular Varicose Anomalies (PAVA)^[22] are fine, refluxing, veins that run around other veins in the leg and are often associated with Pelvic Vein Reflux. They can cause recurrent varicose veins if not recognised and treated at the time of the varicose vein surgery and can be incorrectly diagnosed as neo-vascular tissue.

Sweat glands surgery

In the late 1990s Whiteley began administering the hyperhydrosis surgery using the keyhole technique to treat patients with over-active sweat glands.^[23] In the mid-2000s Whiteley began administering iontophoresis at his clinic in order to treat the problem.^[24] In 2009 Whiteley became the first British medical doctor to offer the Laser Sweat Ablation service, which treats axillary hyperhidrosis. The process starts with a local anesthetic, followed by a laser surgery that permanently kills sweat glands involved in the condition and removes them via suction. The result is a reduction in excessive sweating in those with over-active sweat glands.^[2] According to Whiteley full recovery from the surgery is completed within four to seven hours for most patients.^[25]

Hembolize ™ - Treatment for Hemorrhoids (Piles)

On 28th March 2015, Mr Gordon Buchanan, Dr David Beckett, Judy Holdstock and Mark Whiteley performed the first Hembolize ™ procedure in the world^[26]- a new way to treat hemorrhoids (plies). This procedure was conceived by Whiteley following extensive research into pelvic veins problems.^[27] The first Hembolize ™ was performed under local anaesthetic as a walk-in, walk-out procedure. It has many theoretical advantages over other hemorrhoid treatments. Research is under way to confirm these advantages.

Research

Professor Mark Whiteley has an active interest in research being a regular speaker at International and National venous conferences^[28] and has over 70 peer reviewed publications.^[29] Professor Mark Whiteley both funds and supervises several PhD students working between The Whiteley Clinic and University of Surrey and since 2008 has been running "Whiteley Clinic Summer Research Fellowships"^[30] for medical students or those wishing to be medical students.

Prizes for Research

Professor Mark Whiteley and his team have won many prizes for research including:

• Norman Tanner Medal and Prize, February 1995 - Section of Surgery, Royal Society of Medicine
• Prize for Best Paper, November 2002 - Society of Vascular Technologists, Annual General Meeting
• Venous Forum Prize, November 2004 - Vascular Surgical Society of GB & I (VSSGBI)
• Best Poster Presentation, April 2013 - Venous Forum of The Royal Society of Medicine
• First Prize, April 2014 - Venous Forum Annual Spring Meeting, Royal Society of Medicine
• Bronze Award, November 2014 - American College of Phlebology

a full list of prizes can be found on his personal website.^[31]

Media

Whiteley is a frequent guest on BBC in discussion of both his personal life and his work with curing varicose veins and over-active sweat glands.^{[32][33][34][35]} He has also been interviewed about his personal medical philosophy and the reasons not to have surgery by the The Guardian^[36] and The Daily Mail.^[37] Whiteley self-published the book Understanding Venous Reflux - the cause of varicose veins and venous leg ulcers in 2011.^[38] Since December 2012, Whiteley has been a blogger about varicose veins, leg ulcers and venous surgery on the Huffington Post.^[39]

Business

Whiteley has become recognised as a business leader in medical businesses, winning the Toast of Surrey "Business Personality of the Year" in 2012^[40] and the IOD Director of the Year Award London and South East 2013 for Small Businesses.

Sponsorships

The Whiteley Clinic Prestige Stakes

In 2009 the inaugural Whiteley Clinic Handicap^[41] was run at Goodwood Racecourse. The following year the Whiteley Clinic sponsored the Select Stakes.^[42] However since 2011, the Whiteley Clinic has sponsored the Prestige Stakes.^{[43][44][45][46]}

Guildford Rugby

Professor Mark Whiteley and The Whiteley Clinic have been sponsoring Guildford Rugby since 2009. ^[47]

Charities and Philanthropy

The Leg Ulcer Charity

Professor Mark Whiteley founded a charity in 2013 called The Leg Ulcer Charity^[48] (Registered Charity Number: 1152113). This is a national charity with the aim to empower patients to find a cure for their leg ulcers. Since 2013 the Leg Ulcer Charity has been sponsoring Pippa Tallow, a PhD student,^[49] at The University of Surrey.

Guildford Philanthropy - Founding Donor

In 2013, Professor Mark Whiteley became a founding donor of Guildford Philanthropy^[50] which makes grants available for philanthropic projects in Guildford.

References

External links

• The Whiteley Clinic
• College of Phlebology
• Leg Ulcer Charity