IMPACT OF DIFFERENT PATENCY CRITERIA ON LONG-TERM RESULTS OF FEMOROPOPLITEAL ANGIOPLASTY - ANALYSIS OF 106 CONSECUTIVE PATIENTS WITH CLAUDICATION

PURPOSE: To assess the impact of different patency criteria on long-te rm results after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of femoro popliteal arteries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The results of femoropoplite al PTA in 106 consecutive patients with claudication (140 treated limb s) were analyzed. The treated artery segment was considered patent if (a) the ankle-brachial index (ABI) had increased by more than 0.10 ini tially and not deteriorated by more than 0.15 from the maximum early p ostprocedural level and (b) the ABI was consistently at least 0.15 abo ve the preprocedural level, The third criteria was based on patients' subjective assessment of patency, Initial failures were either include d or excluded and both primary (the outcome of the original PTA) and s econdary patency (also repeated PTAs included) were determined. RESULT S: When the different criteria were applied, the patency rates at 3 ye ars ranged from 42% to 82% in this patient population. CONCLUSION: The se results stress the importance of uniform criteria when results of d ifferent kind of vascular interventions are reported.