PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL ANGIOPLASTY IN CRITICAL LIMB ISCHEMIA

To determine the utility of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA ) in the treatment of chronic critical lower-limb ischaemia, a prospec tive study of 103 consecutive patients (117 limbs) was performed. A to tal of 209 lesions were treated in the iliac (n = 4), femoropopliteal (n = 121), and intrapopliteal (n = 84) arteries. The follow-up time wa s 1-36 months (mean 12 months). The technical success rate was 92 % fo r stenosis and 80 % for occlusion. The cumulative limb salvage rate wa s 56 % at one year, 49 % at two years and 49 % at three years. The fol lowing factors correlated favourably with limb salvage in Cox multiple regression analyses: a small number of diseased lower-limb vessels (o ne to five vs six to eight) and treated lesions per limb (one to two v s three to five), peripheral runoff after PTA (at least one patent cal f vessel vs none) and an occlusion as the successfully treated lesion (instead of stenosis).