title: The evolving role of laser-assisted angioplasty in a United Kingdom district general hospital.
abstract: Fifty-five patients with occlusion of the superficial femoral artery were studied. Of these, fifty-two had claudication and three had critical ischaemia. The mean length of the occlusion was 6.8 cm. In the first phase of the study, laser-assisted angioplasty (LAA) was used. In the second phase, a Terumo guide wire (TGW) was used first and if unsuccessful, a laser probe was used. An attempt was always made to push the laser probe through the occlusion without firing ('cold probe'). Otherwise, the Nd-YAG laser was activated ('hot probe'). The overall success rate for LAA alone was 79%. The TGW followed by LAA, if necessary, succeeded in 77%. The 'hot probe' resulted in four perforations; only one perforation was seen with the TGW. TGW is more straightforward to use and less likely to result in perforation making it a good first option with LAA as a backup.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Oldham NHS Trust, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Hulton
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lee-Cheong
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jayagopal
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016342:Angioplasty, Laser / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006113:United Kingdom