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Background: To evaluate the therapeutic value of endovascular techniques for the treatment of profunda femoris artery obstructive disease (PFAOD) in critical limb ischaemia (CLI) patients, with technically demanding open profunda repair. Design: Retrospective study of prospectively collected data of 15 consecutive CLI patients with technically demanding surgical treatment of PFAOD.
Materials: All patients had critical limb ischaemia with a history of at least two previous vascular reconstructions in the ipsilateral groin and severe co-morbid conditions. All patients had good common femoral artery flow, long occlusion of the superficial femoral and popliteal arteries and impairment of crural arteries.
Methods: Twelve patients underwent balloon angioplasty alone and, in the other three cases, an additional stent placement was necessary, due to flow-limiting dissection. The follow-up (mean 29.2 _ 10 months) included a surveillance protocol with the best medical treatment and duplex scanning at 1, 3, 6, 12 months and yearly thereafter.
Results: The endovascular approach was technically successful in all cases and the procedurerelated morbidity and mortality rates were 0% for the entire follow-up period. The 3-year primary and secondary patency rates of the treated segment were 80% and 86.7%, respectively. The limb salvage rate was 93.3%