title: Is the length of follow-up evaluation in published reports on the treatment of infrainguinal occlusive disease decreasing?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is increasing pressure for the rapid development and implementation of new techniques and procedures. This study examined whether or not there has been a trend toward increasingly short follow-up times for studies evaluating the treatment of lower-extremity occlusive disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search was performed of PubMed using the term "femoropopliteal occlusive disease" from 1976 to 2006. Reports describing the open and/or endovascular treatment of femoropopliteal occlusive disease were classified according to the number of patients, method of treatment, and follow-up time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 103 of the 435 reports met the inclusion criteria. Average follow-up times from 1976 to 1986 were a mean of 43.3 months and a median of 38.8 months, from 1986 to 1996 were a mean of 32.4 months and a median of 16.9 months, from 1996 to 2006 were a mean of 22.6 months and a median of 16.5 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The number of reports on femoropopliteal occlusive disease treatment has increased. The length of follow-up period was 2- to 3-fold longer for reports on open procedures compared with those on endovascular procedures. Whether length of follow-up evaluation and reporting intervals should be standardized warrants further investigation.
authors: Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Monteﬁore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467, USA. NGARGIUL@montefiore.org
authors: Nicholas J
authors: NJ
authors: Gargiulo
authors: David J
authors: DJ
authors: O'Connor
authors: Jeffrey E
authors: JE
authors: Indes
authors: Elyssa
authors: E
authors: Feinberg
authors: Evan C
authors: EC
authors: Lipsitz
authors: William D
authors: WD
authors: Suggs