title: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the arteries of the lower limbs: a 5 year follow-up.
abstract: A total of 482 percutaneous transluminal angioplasties (PTAs) of the arteries of the lower limbs were performed in 411 patients between 1977 and 1983. The 5 year patency rate, calculated by the life table method, was 83% for iliac and 58% for femoropopliteal PTA. Clinical improvement after the procedure was confirmed by a significant drop of the arm-ankle pressure difference: 48 +/- 5 mm Hg before vs 17 +/- 5 mm Hg 2 years after iliac PTA (p less than .01) and 73 +/- 5 mm Hg before vs 28 +/- 6 mm Hg after femoropopliteal PTA (p less than .01). The majority of reocclusions occurred within the first year after angioplasty. Patients with stenoses or occlusions of less than 3 cm had a favorable long-term patency rate of 74%. Conversely, patients with femoropopliteal occlusions presenting with pain at rest, diabetes, occlusions of greater than 3 cm, or poor distal runoff had an elevated rate of reocclusion. Complications, which occurred in 8% of the patients in whom PTA was attempted, included local hemorrhage, dissection, embolism, and spasm necessitating surgical intervention in 2%. No deaths or amputations were a direct consequence of PTA. PTA of arteries of the lower limbs may thus be regarded as a valid complementary treatment to vascular surgery in patients with occlusive disease of the peripheral arteries.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000379:methods*; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005734:Gangrene; D006801:Humans; D007083:Iliac Artery; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000628:therapy; D007511:Ischemia / Q000628:therapy*; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged