Health-related Quality of Life after a one-year follow-up of patients undergoing endovascular leg revascularization.

BACKGROUND: Lower limb revascularization not only improves walking distance, but also disease-specific and general health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL). Therefore, we analyzed changes in HRQoL after endovascular leg revascularization in patients with chronic lower limb ischemia during a one-year follow-up. METHODS: The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was completed by 50 patients with intermittent claudication (IC) and 50 patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) who underwent endovascular revascularization with a stent implantation, as well as 40 patients with IC not requiring endovascular intervention who received medical management only. The survey was completed before and then 3 and 12 months after an intervention. RESULTS: Patients with CLTI before endovascular intervention had the lowest HRQoL in the somatic, psychological, social, and environmental domains. After endovascular revascularization, these patients achieved the greatest improvement in HRQoL. Scores in the HRQoL domains correlated with Rutherford class, ankle-brachial index, and walking distance. The initial score in the somatic domain predicted the risk of target lesion revascularization (TLR) during the one-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular leg revascularization improved patients' functioning, not only in the physical, but also in the psychological, environmental, and social domains of HRQoL. A higher score in the somatic domain of HRQoL before and at 3 months after an intervention predicted the risk of TLR during the one-year follow-up. It is recommended that scores for general HRQoL domains are added to the standard measures of the direct outcome of leg revascularization due to their one-year prognostic value.