Subintimal angioplasty in femoropopliteal region—Mid-term results

Subintimal Crossing of Chronic Total Occlusions in Peripheral Arteries With a Dual Guidewire Balloon Catheter: The PRAESTO Study

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of antegrade fenestration re-entry (AFR) using a dual guidewire angioplasty balloon for chronic total occlusion (CTO) in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This is a retrospective score matching analysis study comparing a study cohort composed of PAD patients with CTO treated with AFR subintimal recanalization using a dual guidewire angioplasty balloon and a matched control group, selected on baseline cardiovascular risk factor and lesions characteristics, treated with a conventional subintimal recanalization. Procedure outcomes include procedural success, successful subintimal re-entry, need for distal puncture, procedural time, fluoroscopy time, and dose area product. Clinical variables, including primary patency, freedom from amputation, freedom from re-interventions, and freedom from death, were used to compare the study groups.

RESULTS

Thirty patients in the study group were compared with 60 patients in the matched control group (mean age, male). A significant higher subintimal re-entry success (100% vs 76.7% in control group, p=0.004) and lower need of distal tibial punction (0 vs 14 [23.3%] patients in control group, p=0.004) were observed in the study group. A surgical conversion to bypass was needed in 5 patients in the control group. Shorter procedural and fluoroscopy time were observed in the study group (41.1±10.8 minutes vs 146.6±62. and 16.7±3.5 minutes vs 34.3±14.2 minutes in control group respectively, p<0.001 and p<0.001). Lower DAP were observed in the study group (914.1±309.9 µGym² vs 2026.5±845.7 µGym² in control group p<0.001). No significant difference were observed in terms of primary patency, mortality, amputation, and freedom from re-intervention.

CONCLUSION

AFR using the Presto dual guidewire balloon is a step forward for crossing CTO which allows a simplified and quick treatment of BTK and ATK lesions compared with conventional approaches without increase of procedural risk and maintaining good clinical outcomes.

SFA Intervention: Intraluminal or Subintimal?

Subintimal angioplasty (SA) is an endovascular technique to recanalize an occluded arterial segment through an extraluminal channel between the intima and media. Since its introduction in 1989, the technical success rate has improved with the accumulation of procedural experience and the development of retrograde approaches and re-entry devices. To date, no randomized trial has compared SA with intraluminal angioplasty (IA) for chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the superficial femoral artery (SFA). Based on limited data from several registry studies, SA appears to achieve a higher technical success rate than IA, whereas mid-term primary patency rates are comparable for both endovascular wiring strategies for SFA CTO. Additional clinical data are needed to confirm that SA is as effective as IA. The optimal stenting strategy and role of drug-eluting technologies also need to be defined to improve SA outcomes.