Subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention (SAFARI) and rertograde access for critical limb ischemia.

Retrograde access techniques involve the addition of a retrograde access into the distal target vessel to aid in recanalization of chronic total occlusions. Many patients with critical limb ischemia are also poor surgical candidates because of comorbidities or lack of suitable landing zone for bypass procedures. This approach may be helpful in the setting of chronic occlusions that cannot be crossed via conventional antegrade true-lumen approaches. Subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique can be used when the occlusion was crossed in the subintimal plane and antegrade re-entry techniques failed. It may also be useful for flush superficial femoral artery occlusions or those lesions that extend into the trifurcation vessels. Proficiency in these techniques allows limb salvage in patients who lack surgical options and would otherwise undergo amputation.

Is fibromuscular dysplasia underdiagnosed? A comparison of the prevalence of FMD seen in CORAL trial participants versus a single institution population of renal donor candidates.

Renal artery fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) may be underdiagnosed. We evaluated the prevalence of FMD in CORAL (Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions) renal artery stent trial participants, in which FMD was an exclusion criterion for inclusion. We also evaluated the prevalence of FMD in a relatively healthy population of patients undergoing computed tomographic angiographic (CTA) screening for renal donor evaluation. All renal donor CTAs performed at our institution from January 2003 through November 2011 were retrospectively reviewed for the presence of FMD along with patient sex and age. These results were compared to angiographic core lab (ACL) findings for the CORAL trial. The CORAL ACL database contained 997 patients (mean age 69.3 years; 50% female). Fifty-eight (5.8%) CORAL trial patients (mean age 71.8 years; 75.9% female) demonstrated incidental FMD. The renal donor cohort included 220 patients (mean age 40.5 years; 64.5% female). Five (2.3%) demonstrated FMD (mean age 48.6 years; all female). The odds of FMD in the CORAL cohort were 2.65 times that seen in the renal donor cohort (95% CI: 1.12, 7.57). In C: onclusion, the 5.8% prevalence of renal artery FMD in the CORAL trial population, the presence of which was biased against, suggests underdiagnosis.