RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Patients with advanced lower limb ischaemia are, at present, mainly treated using revascularisation. AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate whether the dynamics of blood flow in below-the-knee (BTK) arteries assessed by angiography correlate with clinical outcomes after a 12-month follow-up in patients with severe leg ischaemia treated per-cutaneously. METHODS: The current study enrolled 287 consecutive patients who underwent 302 endovascular procedures on the infrain-guinal arteries. The mean age of the included participants was 67.4 ± 10.4 years. After the procedure, blood flow in all patent BTK arteries was assessed using frame count (FC). Patients were then evaluated after one, three, six, and 12 months. During the follow-up visits, clinical condition was evaluated based on the Rutherford scale, ankle-brachial index, and the need for reintervention or amputation. RESULTS: Clinical improvement at the end of the follow-up period was observed in 242 (80.1%) cases and no improvement or worsening in was seen in 42 (13.0%) patients. In total, 66 (21.8%) reinterventions and 18 (6%) amputations during the follow-up period were recorded. Patients with higher FC in the tibial anterior artery experienced significantly better clinical improvement within the 12-month follow-up period (p = 0.02). Lower FC predisposed to worse clinical outcomes after an-gioplasty. Similar tendencies were found for the tibial posterior and fibular arteries but without statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a negative relationship between FC observed on the final angiogram and clinical outcomes in patients undergoing endovascular treatment of the peripheral arteries.
