title: [Transluminal percutaneous angioplasty by thermal lasers. 20 cases of peripheral artery occlusion].
abstract: The authors report their experience of laser thermal angioplasty in a series of 20 patients. An argon laser with a 1.5 or 2.0 millimeter diameter metalcapped optical fiber (Hot Tip Trimedyne Inc.) was used; the laser probe was pushed to the occlusion point; after a channel was produced through the obliteration, a conventional percutaneous balloon angioplasty was performed. The indications were: 4 primitive iliac occlusions, 15 femoral/popliteal occlusions and 1 subclavian obliteration. The immediate results were as follows (table I): 75% overall recanalization (50% at the iliac level, 87% at the femoral/popliteal level and failure at the subclavian level); 5 notable complications were observed (2 limb ischaemia, 2 voluminous inguinal haematoma and 1 aortic cross perforation) without clinical sequelae. The short term follow-up (1 to 8 months) of the successfully treated patients (table II) shows 100% permeability at the iliac level and 77% at the femoral/popliteal level. We conclude that laser thermal angioplasty is a very attractive method in the treatment of primitive iliac and femoral/popliteal occlusions. The well-defined indications must form the subject of a closely discussion between the angiologist, the vascular surgeon and the interventional radiologist.
authors.affiliation: Service médico-chirurgical de pathologie vasculaire, Hôpital Erasme, Bruxelles, Belgique.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wautrecht
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vandenbosch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delcour
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Van Bunnen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Motte
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bellens
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dereume
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Struyven
mesh_terms: D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000379:methods*; D001128:Argon; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy
chemical_list: D001128:Argon
vernacular_title: Angioplastie transluminale percutanée assistée au laser thermique. Expérience de 20 cas d'oblitérations artérielles périphériques.