title: Treatment of aortoiliac disease by axillofemoral artery bypass.
abstract: Between July 1, 1971 and June 30, 1977, 45 axillofemoral artery bypass procedures were performed on 39 men and 5 women whose average age was 67.7 years. Twenty-four patients received 25 unilateral axillofemoral bypasses; the remaining 20 patients underwent axillobifemoral artery procedures. The indication for surgery in 42 patients was limb salvage; the other 2 had infected aortic prostheses. All patients in the former group had serious associated disorders which would have made a conventional intra-abdominal procedure hazardous. The early mortality was 2.3% and the late mortality 29.6%. Of these 45 grafts 20 became occluded; however, 8 of the occluded grafts were successfully revised and have remained patent. For the 25 unilateral grafts at risk the 5-year cumulative patency rate determined by life-table methods was 50.6% and for the 20 bilateral grafts it was 89.7%. Our experience indicates that axillobifemoral bypass has a significantly (P less than 0.02) higher patency rate than unilateral axillofemoral bypass and is an acceptable alternative to conventional intra-abdominal procedures in elderly and poor-risk patients with aortoiliac disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D001366:Axillary Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000379:methods*; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007083:Iliac Artery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011150:Popliteal Artery / Q000601:surgery; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000601:surgery*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
chemical_list: D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates