Retrograde approach for endovascular salvage of an infrapopliteal vein bypass.

Endovascular treatment through femoropopliteal and infragenicular percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, both in native vessels and in bypass salvage, has been an emerging technique in recent years. However, in some cases, a difficult anterograde access in distal occlusions has limited the technical success of this procedure. Combined subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention is used as a resource technique to obtain precise recanalization in these cases. Here, we present the case of a retromalleolar access of the posterior tibial artery, based on subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique, to achieve femoral-posterior tibial bypass salvage.

Clinical and haemodynamic evolution of lesions treated by means of atherectomy with SilverHawk in the femoropopliteal sector.

UNLABELLED: The objective of the work is to study the clinical and haemodynamic evolution, over 1 year, in patients with femoropopliteal arterial pathology treated by means of atherectomy with the SilverHawk device. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nineteen (19) patients were treated between December 2008 and May 2009, collecting data on sex, age, comorbidity and clinical degree, with prospective monitoring over 12 months of clinical symptoms, physical examination and ecodoppler, obtaining results on diameter and peak systolic velocity at different arterial levels. RESULTS: Of the 19 patients, 14 were men and 5 women, with a mean age of 70 years, hypertensive (73%), diabetic (63%) and smokers (63%). Six (6) presented disabling claudication and 13 critical ischemia with advanced distal trophic lesions in 5. A good arteriographic result was obtained in 12 cases, a stent was placed on the superficial femoral artery in 5 due to suboptimal outcome. Contrast extravasation was observed in 2, with femoropopliteal bypass performed and one exclusion with endoprosthesis for repair. In the ecodoppler after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, a progressive reduction in lumen diameter and peak intraarterial systolic velocity was observed, particularly on the distal superficial femoral artery. After one year, 7 patients (36.8%) were symptom-free, 5 (26.3%) presented mild or moderate intermittent claudication and 1 patient (5.3%) presented localised distal trophic lesion. Four (4) major amputations were performed, in 2 the knee was preserved, there were 3 thromboses due to the procedure, a secondary endovascular procedure was performed in one case and a femoropopliteal bypass in another, and there were 2 non procedure-related deaths. DISCUSSION: atherectomy with SilverHawk achieves an improvement in clinical degree, with a good rate of extremity salvage in patients with critical ischemia. In the first year, the ecodoppler shows evolution of the arteriopathy, without this necessarily meaning a clinical worsening.