ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) represents the severest manifestation of peripheral artery disease. Malnutrition is closely associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with chronic diseases. The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is a tool to evaluate the systemic inflammation and nutritional status. This study aimed to investigate the association of baseline CONUT score with mortality in patients with CLTI following endovascular revascularization. METHODS: A single-center retrospective analysis of patients with CLTI undergoing endovascular revascularization between January 2015 and December 2022 was performed. Preoperative nutritional status was evaluated using CONUT score, which was calculated using the serum albumin concentration, total peripheral lymphocyte count, and total cholesterol concentration. A CONUT score ≥5 indicates moderate or severe malnutrition. The Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression were used for survival analysis and to evaluate the risk factors associated with mortality. RESULTS: Among 232 enrolled patients, 20.7% had moderate or severe malnutrition defined by the CONUT score. During a median follow-up of 2.1 (interquartile ranges, 1.0-3.5) years, 87 (37.5%) patients died. The 3-year overall survival rate in patients with CLTI who underwent endovascular revascularization was 63.7%. The high CONUT (≥5) group had significantly worse 3-year overall survival (42.0% vs. 68.8%, P = 0.004) and limb salvage (73.3% vs. 84.1%, P = 0.005) rates than the low CONUT (<5) group. Multivariate analysis showed that high CONUT score was significantly associated with increased risk for mortality in patients with CLTI after endovascular revascularization (hazard ratio, 1.687; 95% confidence interval, 1.031-2.759; P = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicated that moderate or severe malnutrition defined by the CONUT score was significantly associated with increased mortality in patients with CLTI following endovascular revascularization. Future study is required to evaluate the efficacy of nutritional intervention in these patients.