Endovascular techniques in limb salvage: infrapopliteal angioplasty

Distal Bypass Versus Infrageniculate Endovascular Intervention for Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia

Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) carries a high risk of amputation and warrants urgent intervention. CLTI involving the infrageniculate vessels, in particular, carries a considerably higher risk of major limb amputation. Open surgical bypass is the historical gold standard for the treatment of tibial arterial disease; however, endovascular therapy provides an attractive alternative in this high-risk patient population. In this article, we review the existing literature regarding distal bypass and infrageniculate endovascular intervention in patients with CLTI.

Expanded negative pressure wound therapy in healing diabetic foot ulcers: a prospective randomised study

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the benefits of treating diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) through a revised procedure using the mechanisms underlying negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in such a way as to achieve reduced and more evenly distributed lateral tension lines across the wound.

METHOD

Patients with type 2 diabetes were assessed for elegibility. Included patients were divided randomly into two groups: the NPWT control group and the NPWT+ group. Patients in the NPWT control group were treated in the traditional manner: wounds were covered with foams shaped to fit the wound precisely. In the NPWT+ group, foams were shaped to fit the wound precisely, and an additional foam was then wrapped around the foot.

RESULTS

Some 85 patients were assessed for eligibility; 59 were randomised into two groups: 29 patients in the NPWT+ group and 30 patients in the NPWT group. The primary objective was median healing time (NPWT+ 19 days, interquartile ratio (IQR) 7.5; NPWT 33 days, IQR 16; p<0.00001), and complete wound healing at three weeks (NPWT+ 55.20% NPWT 26.70% p=0.02). Secondary endpoints included number of major amputations (none in either group) and number of infections (NPWT+ 3.44% of patients, NPWT 6.66% of patients; p=0.57).

CONCLUSION

Our initial findings show that this treatment significantly reduced wound closure times and accelerated healing in DFUs. It also demonstrated promising improvements in healing rates, with no significant increase in wound complications.

Acellular Dermal Matrix Used in Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Clinical Outcomes Supported by Biochemical and Histological Analyses

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a diabetes complication which greatly impacts the patient's quality of life, often leading to amputation of the affected limb unless there is a timely and adequate management of the patient. DFUs have a high economic impact for the national health system. Data have indeed shown that DFUs are a major cause of hospitalization for patients with diabetes. Based on that, DFUs represent a very important challenge for the national health system. Especially in developed countries diabetic patients are increasing at a very high rate and as expected, also the incidence of DFUs is increasing due to longevity of diabetic patients in the western population. Herein, the surgical approach focused on the targeted use of the acellular dermal matrix has been integrated with biochemical and morphological/histological analyses to obtain evidence-based information on the mechanisms underlying tissue regeneration. In this research report, the clinical results indicated decreased postoperative wound infection levels and a short healing time, with a sound regeneration of tissues. Here we demonstrate that the key biomarkers of wound healing process are activated at gene expression level and also synthesis of collagen I, collagen III and elastin is prompted and modulated within the 28-day period of observation. These analyses were run on five patients treated with Integra® sheet and five treated with the injectable matrix Integra® Flowable, for cavitary lesions. In fact, clinical evaluation of improved healing was, for the first time, supported by biochemical and histological analyses. For these reasons, the present work opens a new scenario in DFUs treatment and follow-up, laying the foundation for a tailored protocol towards complete healing in severe pathological conditions.

Combined percutaneous direct puncture of occluded artery - antegrade intervention for recanalization of below the knee arteries

PURPOSE

We aimed to assess the technical success of the combined percutaneous direct puncture of occluded artery - antegrade intervention technique, as well as the clinical effectiveness of treatment, on the basis of changes in the Rutherford classification.

METHODS

Between June 2015 and July 2018, 441 patients underwent endovascular recanalization due to lower limb peripheral arterial disease at our center. Of these, 18 patients (4%; 15 males, 3 females; mean age, 63.2 years) had failed antegrade recanalization and percutaneous retrograde access because of long segment occlusion, arterial rupture or dissection. Combined percutaneous direct puncture of occluded artery and antegrade approach was applied to these patients. Clinical follow-up examinations were performed at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and annually thereafter.

RESULTS

The mean follow-up period was 22.8±10.9 months. The mean procedure time was 93.6±28.2 min. Technical success was achieved in 14 patients (78%). Complete restoration of arterial flow in the punctured vessel could not be achieved in 4 patients (22%). Minor complications occurred in 4 of 18 procedures (22%). Amputation-free survival and limb salvage rates (83.3% and 100%, respectively) were the same for 12 and 24 months.

CONCLUSION

Technical success in lower limb peripheral arterial disease may be improved with the use of a combined percutaneous direct puncture of occluded artery - antegrade intervention, particularly for patients in whom other techniques are not a viable option.

Bypass versus endovascular intervention for healing ischemic foot wounds secondary to tibial arterial disease

OBJECTIVE

Pedal (inframalleolar) bypass is a long-standing therapy for tibial arterial disease in patients with ischemic tissue loss. Endovascular tibial intervention is an appealing alternative with lower risks of perioperative mortality or complications. Our objective was to compare the effectiveness of these two treatment modalities with respect to patency and limb-related clinical outcomes.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective chart review of patients presenting between 2006 and 2013 with ischemic foot wounds and infrapopliteal arterial disease who underwent a revascularization procedure (either open surgical bypass to an inframalleolar target or endovascular tibial intervention). Data were collected on baseline demographics and comorbidities, procedural details, and postprocedure outcomes. The primary outcome was successful healing of the index wound, with mortality, major amputation, and patency assessed as secondary outcomes.

RESULTS

We identified 417 patients who met our eligibility criteria; 105 underwent surgical bypass and 312 underwent endovascular intervention, with mean follow-up of 25.0 and 20.2 months, respectively (P = .08). The endovascular patients were older at baseline (P = .009), with higher rates of hyperlipidemia (P = .02), prior cerebrovascular accidents (P = .04), and smoking history (P = .04). Within 30 days postoperatively, there was no difference in mortality (P = .31), but bypass patients had longer hospital length of stay (P < .0001), higher rate of discharge to nursing facility (P < .001), and higher rates of myocardial infarctions (P = .03) and wound complications (P < .001). At 6 months, the rate of wound healing was 22.4% in the bypass group compared with 29.0% in the endovascular group (P = .02). At 1 year, survival was higher after bypass (86.2% vs 70.4%; P < .0001), but freedom from major amputation was similar (84.9% vs 82.8%; P = .42). Primary patency (53.1% vs 38.2%; P = .002) and primary assisted patency (76.6% vs 51.7%; P < .0001) were higher in the bypass group, but there was no difference in secondary patency (77.3% vs 73.8%; P = .13).

CONCLUSIONS

Endovascular tibial intervention is associated with poorer primary patency but similar secondary patency and wound healing rates compared with the "gold standard" of surgical bypass to a pedal target. In patients with tibial arterial disease, endovascular intervention should be considered a lower risk alternative to pedal bypass that provides similar clinical outcomes.

A universal drug delivery catheter for the treatment of infrapopliteal arterial disease: Results from the multi-center first-in-human study

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility, safety and initial efficacy of paclitaxel administration using a novel drug delivery catheter for the prevention of restenosis in infrapopliteal de novo and restenotic lesions.

BACKGROUND

Restenosis continues to be a great challenge after percutaneous revascularization procedures for peripheral arterial disease, particularly for below-the-knee applications.

METHODS

A prospective, multicenter first-in-human registry of a novel delivery catheter delivering liquid paclitaxel was conducted in 10 patients. The primary efficacy endpoint at 6 months was freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR) and the primary safety endpoint at 1, 3, and 6 months were thrombosis, major amputation in the target limb and target limb related death.

RESULTS

All patients tolerated the procedure well with no reports of adverse procedural events. Twelve (n = 12) lesions in ten patients were treated with a mean lesion length of 83.3 ± 49.2 mm, with the lesion length range of 30mm to 182 mm. At 6-month follow-up, the rate of CD-TLR was 30% (3 of 10 patients). Zero patients (0 out of 10) demonstrated thrombosis, major amputation in the target limb and target limb related death at the 1, 3, and 6 month follow-up intervals.

CONCLUSIONS

This first in-human experience obtained in a multicenter study of real-world de novo and restenotic lesions demonstrates a favorable safety and efficacy profile at 6 months. Randomized comparison to current drug coated balloons should be performed to further validate this approach and positive experience.

Paclitaxel-Coated Balloon in Infrapopliteal Arteries: 12-Month Results From the BIOLUX P-II Randomized Trial (BIOTRONIK'S-First in Man study of the Passeo-18 LUX drug releasing PTA Balloon Catheter vs. the uncoated Passeo-18 PTA balloon catheter in subjects requiring revascularization of infrapopliteal arteries)

OBJECTIVES

The aim of BIOLUX P-II (BIOTRONIK'S-First in Man study of the Passeo-18 LUX drug releasing PTA Balloon Catheter vs. the uncoated Passeo-18 PTA balloon catheter in subjects requiring revascularization of infrapopliteal arteries) trial was to compare the safety and efficacy of a novel paclitaxel-coated drug-eluting balloon (DEB) versus an uncoated balloon (percutaneous transluminal angioplasty [PTA]) in de novo or native restenotic lesions of the infrapopliteal arteries in patients with claudication and critical limb ischemia.

BACKGROUND

DEB have shown promising results in femoropopliteal lesions, but data for infrapopliteal lesions are scarce.

METHODS

In this prospective, multicenter, randomized first-in-man study, 72 patients were randomized 1:1 to either a Passeo-18 Lux DEB (Biotronik AG, Buelach, Switzerland) (n = 36) or Passeo-18 PTA (n = 36). Follow-up assessments were scheduled at 1, 6, and 12 months, with angiographic assessment at 6 months. Adverse events were adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee, and angiographic parameters were assessed by an independent core laboratory.

RESULTS

The primary safety endpoint (a composite of all-cause mortality, target extremity major amputation, target lesion thrombosis, and target vessel revascularization at 30 days) was 0% in the DEB group versus 8.3% in the PTA group (p = 0.239). The primary performance endpoint (patency loss at 6 months) was 17.1% in the DEB group versus 26.1% in the PTA group (p = 0.298), and major amputations of the target extremity occurred in 3.3% versus 5.6% of the patients at 12 months, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The Passeo-18 Lux DEB has been proven to be safe and effective in infrapopliteal lesions with comparable outcomes to PTA.

Observation may be an inadequate approach for injured extremities with single tibial vessel run-off

Introduction

Trauma patients with sudden loss of distal perfusion due to tibial injuries are frequently not offered vascular interventions if a single vessel retains patency. We hypothesized that sudden loss of either all or some tibial vasculature would result in increased non-operative failure and higher amputation rates.

Methods

In this retrospective observational study, all traumatically injured patients from 2009 to 2012 with CT-angiogram–confirmed anterior tibial, posterior tibial, or peroneal artery injuries were included.

Results

From 2009 to 2012, 437 patients were admitted with arterial extremity injury of which 234 (53%) were lower extremity. From this group, 84 (36%) patients were identified with CT-angiogram–confirmed limited or no flow in the tibial arteries. A total of 44% (4/9) with 0 or 1 tibial vessel failed observation while only 8% (2/27) failed if they had 2 or 3 patent vessels ( p < 0.05). Amputation rate was inversely related the number of open tibial vessels. There were 2.7 open tibial vessels in the limb salvage group compared to 1.1 in the amputation group ( p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Patients who failed an initial trial of observation were significantly more likely to have 0 or 1 tibial vessels patent. The number of open tibial vessels is significantly associated with limb salvage.

Stenting below-the-knee bifurcations with dedicated bifurcation stent BiOSS Lim - first in man case report

The best treatment strategy for below the knee bifurcation disease is not known. We present first two cases with successful implantation of dedicated coronary bifurcation sirolimus eluting stent BiOSS Lim (Balton, Poland) in complex bifurcation and trifurcation lesions of tibioperoneal trunk. Both implantations were uncomplicated with sustained short-term result at 30-day control Duplex ultrasound and remarkable clinical improvement. Our report demonstrates feasibility and short-term effectiveness of implantation of dedicated coronary bifurcation stent in below-the-knee bi- and tri-furcations.