Clinical significance of mirror lesions in lower extremity arterial disease.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical relevance of bilateral peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patterns. BACKGROUND: No prior study has evaluated the clinical significance of symmetrical lesion patterns, particularly the coexistence of same-level significant plaques in both lower extremities ("mirror lesions"). METHODS: We conducted a single-facility, primary data analysis involving 225 patients with symptomatic PAD. RESULTS: Eighty-two percent of the patients had bilateral lesions: 14.2% had femoropopliteal, 38.7% had infrapopliteal, and 27.1% had both femoropopliteal and infrapopliteal lesions. The lesions were found in the exact same arteries bilaterally in 24.9% of the patients, while 26.7% had a local mirror pattern limited to the femoropopliteal (13.7%) or infrapopliteal (12.9%) arteries. Having a lesion in an artery was a risk factor for occlusive disease of the corresponding artery on the other side. Patients presenting with critical limb ischemia (CLI) had a history of resting pain (17%), ulceration/gangrene (13%), or prior amputation (26%) of the contralateral limb. Patients with significant bilateral disease had unilateral false-negative ABI results in 11.6% of the cases. The arterial Doppler study results were unilaterally false-negative in 19.6% and bilaterally false-negative in 2.8% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with known peripheral arterial disease need to have both limbs fully evaluated and monitored, even in cases with negative screening results. Mirror angiographic imaging is common and often accompanied by symptoms of claudication. Unilateral ischemia is a strong risk factor for contralateral disease. Patients with CLI are at high risk for occlusive lesions of the nonindex limb.

Comparison of long-term outcomes after directional versus rotational atherectomy in peripheral artery disease.

INTRODUCTION: The rate of atherectomy utilization in peripheral artery diseases (PAD) is growing. The two atherectomy devices available on the market and used most frequently are the directional and rotational ones. Nonetheless, there is a lack of direct comparison between these two types of atherectomy in PAD. AIM: To compare the long-term outcomes after PAD endovascular revascularization with two types of atherectomies: rotational (AR) (Phoenix Philips) and directional (AD) (SilverHawk Medtronic). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective study of obstructive and symptomatic PAD patients who underwent revascularization with atherectomy. The endpoints were considered as target lesion revascularization (TLR), death, amputations and bailout stenting (BS). RESULTS: The AR group consisted of 97 patients, while the AD group consisted of 85 individuals. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of baseline characteristics except for an increased critical limb ischemia (CLI) prevalence in the AR group. The mean follow-up for AD and AR was 282.6 ±147.4 and 255.7 ±186.1 days, respectively (p = 0.44). There were no significant differences in the death rate (AD: 1 (1.7%) vs. AR: 5 (5.7%); p = 0.54), amputations (AD: 2 (2.3%) vs. AR: 5 (5.7%); p = 0.45) or bailout stenting (AD: 2 (2.3%) vs. AR: 3 (3.2%); p = 0.74), whereas TLR was more frequent in the AD group (AD: 25 (29%) vs. AR: 15 (15.9%; p = 0.03). The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed no significant differences between the groups in time to TLR, amputation or death. CONCLUSIONS: In this hypothesis-generating study the AR had a lower rate of TLR when compared to the AD. Nevertheless, this should be confirmed in further controlled randomized trials.

Long term outcomes in diabetic patients treated with atherectomy for peripheral artery disease.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes has increased significantly in well-developed countries during the last decade and it continues to grow. Diabetes increases the risk of restenosis in patients treated percutaneously for peripheral artery disease. The present study sought to compare outcomes of atherectomy treatment in diabetic (DM) vs. non-diabetic (nDM) patients suffering from peripheral artery disease. METHOD: Between 2008 and 2012, 204 revascularization atherectomy procedures were performed on arteries of the lower extremities. The endpoints included target lesion revascularization (TLR), amputation and death. The type of atherectomy (excisional-soft plaque, orbital-calcified plaque, with active aspiration - with a thrombus) was left to operator discretion. RESULTS: This study contains 132 DM (66% male, age 68 ± 11.2 years) and 72 nDM (63% male, age 75 ± 11.3 years) subjects. DM were younger but had a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease (DM: 91% vs. nDM: 62%, p < 0.0001) and end-stage renal disease (DM: 22% vs. nDM: 2.5%, p < 0.0001). There were no differences in critical limb ischemia between the groups (DM: 21% vs. nDM: 12%, p = = 0.13). Mean time of follow-up was 384 and 411 days in DM and nDM, respectively (p = 0.43). There were no significant differences in TLR (DM: 15.2% vs. nDM: 22.2%, p = 0.249), amputations (DM: 3.0% vs. nDM: 1.5%, p = NS) or death rates (DM: 2.2% vs. nDM: 2.7%, p = NS). Kaplan-Mayer analysis showed no significant differences between the groups in the time to TLR, amputation or death. CONCLUSIONS: Plaque modification with adjusted atherectomy appears to have similar outcomes in diabetic as well as in non-diabetic patients. Nonetheless, a randomized study would be warranted to confirm the findings of the current study.