Utility and feasibility of ultrasound-guided access in patients with critical limb ischemia

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches in the Management of Infrapopliteal Arterial Disease

Chronic limb-threatening ischemia represents end-stage peripheral artery disease. It is underdiagnosed; it relies on clinical symptoms and traditional noninvasive tests, which significantly underestimate the severity of disease. Innovative techniques, approaches, technologies, and risk-assessment tools have significantly improved our ability to treat these patients and to better understand their complex disease process. For patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia considered without options, the reengineering of deep venous arterialization procedures has shown promising results. Finally, the creation of interactive and multidisciplinary teams in centers of excellence is of paramount importance to significantly improve the care and outcomes of these patients.

Below-the-Knee Retrograde Access for Peripheral Interventions: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE

To investigate the hypothesis that interventions involving retrograde below-the-knee (BTK) vessel punctures have an acceptably low complication rate and high procedural success.

METHODS

A systematic review was performed of the MEDLINE and Scopus databases for articles describing the results of BTK retrograde access for peripheral interventions. Outcome measures were access success, procedure success, and complications. A predefined subgroup analysis was performed of prospective studies to reduce the influence of possible reporting bias on outcomes.

RESULTS

Nineteen articles, including 3 prospective studies, were selected, including a total of 1905 interventions in 1395 patients (mean age 69.5 years; 918 men). The BTK vessels were punctured in 1168 (61.3%) of these interventions. Access was successful in 94.0% of BTK attempts, 86.0% of all lesions were successfully crossed using a retrograde access, and 84.0% of interventions achieved technical success. Forty-eight (4.1%) distal access site complications were reported. Vessel perforations were seen in 13 (1.1%) interventions, vasospasm in 5 (0.4%), and acute distal occlusions in 5 (0.4%). Predefined subgroup analysis of prospective studies showed similar results (p=0.24).

CONCLUSION

A retrograde approach to facilitate peripheral endovascular interventions is a safe and successful technique and should be considered when an antegrade approach is not possible or fails to cross the lesion. Because of missing data on long-term outcomes and methodological shortcomings, real world data of retrograde access in nonexpert centers remains necessary before this technique can be advised to all interventionists dealing with peripheral artery disease.

Impact of Perioperative Complications After Endovascular Therapy in Diabetic Patients With Critical Limb Ischemia due to Isolated Infrapopliteal Lesions

Purpose: To investigate the thus far poorly defined impact of perioperative complications (POCs) on clinical outcomes after endovascular therapy (EVT) of diabetic patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) due to isolated infrapopliteal lesions. Methods: A multicenter registry of CLI patients was interrogated to identify 780 consecutive diabetic patients (mean age 71±10 years; 553 men) who successfully underwent balloon angioplasty for isolated infrapopliteal lesions. More than half of the population (487 patients) was on dialysis. Independent predictors (logistic regression) and prognostic impact on outcomes (Cox proportional hazards model) of POC (ie, death, myocardial infarction, stroke, pseudoaneurysm, puncture site hemorrhage/hematoma, distal emboli, vascular rupture, transfusion, dialysis, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage) were investigated. Outcomes are presented as the odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR), respectively, with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: POCs occurred in 12.3% (96/780) of the population. Multivariate modeling identified body mass index (BMI) <18.5 kg/m2 (adjusted OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.89, p=0.047) and tissue loss (adjusted OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.14 to 5.15, p=0.021) as independent predictors of POCs. In a Cox regression model adjusted for baseline clinical characteristics, the occurrence of POCs was independently associated with major adverse limb events (HR 1.87, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.13, p=0.016) but not with mortality or wound healing. In follow-up, freedom from major adverse limb events was higher in the group without POC (85.2%) than with POC (69.7%, p=0.006) at up to 3 years. Conclusion: POCs within 30 days after balloon angioplasty for infrapopliteal disease in diabetics with CLI were more likely to occur in patients with low BMI and tissue loss. POC occurrence was associated with major adverse limb events in follow-up but not with mortality or wound healing.

Management of Infrapopliteal Arterial Disease: Critical Limb Ischemia

According to the TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus Document on Management of Peripheral Arterial Disease, "there is increasing evidence to support a recommendation for angioplasty in patients with critical limb ischemia and infrapopliteal artery occlusion." Management of infrapopliteal artery disease starts with diagnosis using modern preprocedural noninvasive and invasive imaging. Interventionalists need to learn the role of chronic total occlusion cap analysis and collateral zone recognition in angiosome-directed interventions for management of critical limb ischemia and be familiar with equipment and device selection and a stepwise approach for endovascular interventions. Interventionalists need to know which crossing tools to use to successfully cross-complex chronic total occlusion caps.