LAUSR

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.