• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Factors Affecting Long-Term Results of Above-Knee Femoropopliteal Bypass : A Single-Center Contemporary Study : A Single-Center Contemporary Study
  • Contributor: De Santis, Francesco; Pattaro, Cristian; Mani, Gabriele; Pramstaller, Peter Paul; Loreni, Giorgio; Martini, Guido
  • Published: SAGE Publications, 2016
  • Published in: Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, 50 (2016) 2, Seite 72-79
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1177/1538574415627866
  • ISSN: 1538-5744; 1938-9116
  • Keywords: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ; General Medicine ; Surgery
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess whether individual patients’ or bypass characteristics may influence long-term results of prosthetic above-knee femoropopliteal bypasses in patients with claudication in today’s endovascular era. Methods: Seventy-one consecutivee Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) bypasses were considered. All patients presented a debilitating claudication. Patency of grafts was achieved by Kaplan-Meier method. The association between individual patients’ or graft characteristics and primary patency (PP) or secondary patency (SP) was assessed via Cox regression models. Results: An immediate technical success was achieved in all cases. No patient was lost during follow-up (8-90 months, median = 34 months). The median PP was 48 months. Occlusion occurred in 32 bypasses (45%). Eight (25%) of these were treated conservatively. Fifty-two bypasses (73%) were still patent at the end of follow-up, and 13 (25%) of these had been submitted to one or more surgical revisions. There were 2 graft infections. Of 17 (25%) patients with occluded graft at the end of follow-up, 2 (2.8%) had significant aggravation followed by limb loss. The PP was directly influenced by undetected minor distal anastomosis technical defects (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.89, P value = .000002), popliteal artery size (HR = 0.62, P value = 0.007), and distal anastomosis angle ≥40° (HR = 5.55, P value = .003). The SP was associated strictly to technical defects (HR = 11.08, P value = .000007). Multivariable analyses confirmed the influence of technical defects (HR = 6.42, P value = .000003) and anastomosis angle (HR = 1.05, P value = .009) on PP and that of technical defects on SP (HR = 10.84, P value = .00003). A significantly shorter SP was also observed after a previous failed endovascular treatment on the superficial femoral artery (HR = 3.73, P value = .02). Conclusion: An adequate arterial size, an ideal anastomotic angle, and the absence of minor, technical defects have a major role in prosthetic above-knee femoropopliteal bypass long-term outcome. A previous, failed endovascular procedure on the superficial femoral artery could markedly alter the natural history of patients with claudication because this approach seems to have a detrimental effect on long-term outcome of grafts needing surgical revisions