title: Angioplasty gives good results in critical lower limb ischaemia. A 5-year follow-up in patients with known ankle pressure and diabetic status having femoropopliteal dilations.
abstract: 137 consecutive patients with known ankle pressures and diabetic status had attempted femoro-popliteal dilatation for lower limb ischaemia in an English provincial teaching hospital. All except one were followed until failure or death to assess survival and amputation rates. Non-diabetic patients with critical limb ischaemia had a 5 year survival rate of 62.2% (SE 17.1) compared to 50.5% (SE 7.0) for claudicants, with no significant difference on logrank testing. Diabetics had a relative risk of amputation of 11.2 compared to nondiabetics. Patients with pre-treatment ankle pressures of 50 mm or less had a relative risk of amputation of 2.6 compared to those with higher resting pressures. It is concluded that angioplasty should be the treatment of first choice in critical lower limb ischaemia whenever it is technically possible. Including patients with rest pain in the critical ischaemia group does not significantly affect cumulative patency rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Bristol Royal Infirmary, UK.
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Jeans
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horrocks
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Baird
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000601:surgery; D007511:Ischemia / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011150:Popliteal Artery; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014654:Vascular Patency