ENDOVASCULAR RADIATION-PROPHYLAXIS OF THE INTIMAL HYPERPLASIA AFTER PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL ANGIOPLASTY IN PERIPHERAL VESSELS

The prognosis of interventionally treated arterial occlusive vessel di sease in peripheral arteries is not significantly better with the use of stents than with percutaneous transluminar angioplasty. The rate of restenosis or reocclusion in dilated or recanalized and stented perip heral arteries is reported as up to 40%, depending on location and aut hor. In the early phase thrombotic processes are responsible which the n demonstrate histologically confirmed intimal hyperplasia. On the bas is of many years of radiotherapy experience in the treatment of benign hyperplastic tissue alterations, brachytherapy could be introduced as a method for prophylaxis of vessel restenoses. The early difficulties with this method were due to the inadequacies of the equipment. The d evelopment of small radiation sources with high specific activity now enables these target volumes to be reached. The clinical experience so far indicates high efficiency of this method. It can be expected that the range of indications for adjuvant endoluminal irradiation will br oaden in the future.