Clinical and economic evaluation of ambulatory endovascular treatment of peripheral arterial occlusive lesions.

BACKGROUND: Ambulatory management of patients is an alternative to conventional hospitalization. In this study we evaluate the results of a prospective cohort study of patients receiving ambulatory endovascular treatment for peripheral arterial lesions. METHODS: From June 2008 to October 2010, ambulatory management was proposed for endovascular treatment of peripheral arterial lesions. An arterial closure device (Angio-Seal(®); St. Jude Medical) was used. For ambulatory treatment, patients were prohibited from driving a vehicle at discharge, had to be accompanied the first night after the procedure, had to live <1 hour from a medical facility, had to be reachable by telephone the day after the intervention, and had to remain hospitalized in the event of a complication. The principal criterion was morbimortality at 1 month. Secondary criteria were clinical improvement, patency, complications related to the arterial closure, and costs evaluation at 1 month. RESULTS: Forty-five patients were included and 50 ambulatory procedures were carried out. The patients presented with claudication (92%) or a critical ischemia (8%) of the lower extremities. All procedures were carried out by femoral puncture (retrograde in 94% and anterograde in 6% of the cases). The patients presented with iliac (68%) and femoropopliteal (64%) lesions. Lesions included stenoses (70%), thromboses (16%), and intrastent restenoses (14%). The rate of failure of ambulatory hospitalization was 16% (n = 8) without a serious undesirable event: 2 patients were hospitalized after a surgical conversion for iliac rupture and disinsertion of stent; 3 patients developed a hematoma during the intervention at the point of puncture; and in 3 cases the system of percutaneous closure failed. The mean duration of hospitalization was 1.36 ± 1.33 days. At 1 month, clinical improvement was observed in 97.5% of cases, with a primary patency of 100%. No perioperative rehospitalization or puncture site complications were observed. Ambulatory management made it possible to save 42 days of hospitalization, with associated costs of 10,971€, compared with conventional hospitalization. The additional costs related to use of the Angio-Seal amounted to 7427€. CONCLUSION: Ambulatory endovascular treatment of patients presenting with peripheral arterial lesions is reliable and effective and may contribute to savings in healthcare spending.

Long-term influence of suprarenal or infrarenal fixation on proximal neck dilatation and stentgraft migration after EVAR.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the influence of the proximal fixation systems of stentgrafts on proximal inter-renal or infrarenal aneurysm neck dilatation after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Anatomic and clinical predictive factors of neck dilatation and stentgraft proximal migration were searched for. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Taking account of a prospective and monocenter register, 58 patients' files, with a complete minimum 3-year follow-up, were analyzed after treatment with stentgrafts with a suprarenal fixation (SRF: 33 Talent) or an infrarenal fixation (IRF: 25 AneuRx). Both groups were compared in terms of inter-renal neck dilatation (D1: diameter between the two renal arteries), infrarenal neck dilatation (D2: 7-mm diameter under the lowest renal artery), and specific complication (proximal migration, endoleak). The diameter measured on the last control computed tomography scan was compared with the postoperative diameter. Neck dilatation was defined by a diameter increase exceeding 3 mm and by the proximal migration due to a caudal displacement of the stentgraft ≥10 mm. Predictive factors of proximal migration or neck dilatation were searched for (anatomy of the neck, aneurysm anatomy, stent graft oversize percentage, demographic factors). RESULTS: Preoperatively, both groups were comparable in terms of anatomic and demographic characteristics of the aneurysm. Mean follow-up was longer in the AneuRx group (62 ± 17 months vs. 53 ± 13 months, p = 0.045) and the percentage of stent graft oversize was greater in the Talent group (18 ± 6% vs. 13 ± 5%, p < 10(-4)). Freedom from a dilatation exceeding 3 mm in D1 and D2 did not bring any significant difference between the two groups. In each group, the remodeling of the aneurysmal sac (AneuRx median = -4 mm, Talent median = -5 mm, p > 0.05) was only moderately related to proximal neck remodeling. A small angulation of the neck and a smaller neck were the only predictive factors of neck dilatation found respectively in D1 (p = 0.007) and in D2 (p = 0.022). Stent graft proximal migration was more frequent in the AneuRx group (p = 0.031) and was more frequent with large aneurysms (p = 0.029). CONCLUSION: In the long term, the absence of proximal stent graft fixation system on the dilatation of the aneurysm proximal neck enhances proximal migration. Conversely, the inter-renal or infrarenal proximal neck dilatation does not depend on the type of proximal fixation but on anatomic factors and on the natural evolution of the aneurysmal disease.