Search

Objective The rotational atherothrombectomy with Straub Rotarex® is a safe and efficient treatment of acute/subactute vascular occlusions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the benefit of paclitaxel-coated angioplasty after rotational atherothrombectomy over an observation period of six months. Materials and Methods Overall, 29 patients were treated with the Rotarex catheter in combination with paclitaxel-coated angioplasty. All patients had acute/subacute and chronic occlusions of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) and/or popliteal arteries. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) was detected before the intervention, after the procedure, and after six months. Also clinical examination and ultrasound scans were done in the observation period. Results There were no technical failures. The ABI shows a significant increase from 0.52 ± 0.17 to 0.91 ± 0.25 in the follow-up. By ultrasound examination, there were found two (6.9%) restenoses during the follow-up. There was one dissection during the intervention (3.5%). Conclusion The rotational atherothrombectomy in combination with paclitaxel-coated angioplasty might be an effective and safe method with a promising low rate of restenosis at six months.

Purpose The current gold standard of popliteal artery aneurysm (PAA) treatment is saphenous vein bypass grafting. The aim of this retrospective single-center study is to investigate the safety and efficacy in the treatment of PAA by an endovascular implanted covered endoprosthesis. Materials and Methods Ten patients, mean age 64.6 (range, 52-78) years, with PAA were treated with an expanded Polytetrafluoroethylen (ePTFE)-covered stent graft (Viabahn®, W.L. Gore and Associates Inc, Flagstaff, AZ, USA). In median, 1.4 prostheses were implanted with a median length of 180 mm. Follow-up visits included determination of ankle-brachial index (ABI) and color-coded duplex sonography. Results The technical success rate was 100% (10/10). Clinically, there was an increase in ABI from 0.62 ± 0.17 to 0.91 ± 0.15 postinterventionally and to 0.89 ± 0.16 after an average follow-up of 24.7 months. During the follow-up period, 2 (20%) stent occlusions occurred; both of them were treated with a bypass graft. Conclusion The treatment of PAA with covered endoprosthesis is a safe and effective alternative to open surgical therapy, where open surgical therapy is contraindicated or patient refused open surgery.