Excimer laser atherectomy combined with drug-coated balloon angioplasty for the treatment of chronic obstructive femoropopliteal arterial disease

The aim of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety and the primary results following application of excimer laser atherectomy (ELA) combined with adjunctive drug-coated balloon angioplasty (DCBA) as the first-line endovascular treatment for patients with chronic obstructive femoropopliteal arterial disease. The baseline characteristics and angiographic variables of all patients who underwent ELA for stable chronic obstructive femoropopliteal arterial disease at Tianjin First Central Hospital (Tianjin, China) between May and December 2017 were collected. Information on clinical characteristics, including the 12-month primary patency rate, technical success rate, procedural success rate, bailout stenting rate, target lesion revascularization and major adverse events, was obtained following review of the patients' medical records. A descriptive analysis was performed on all variables. Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted for the primary patency rate. The present study included 17 consecutive patients (age, 68.9±7.4 years; 94.1% males) who were followed up for 12 months after the intervention. Adjunctive BA was performed in 100% of the cases. The occlusion length was 23.3±8.9 cm (range, 5.6–40.5 cm). The technical success rate was 100% and the procedural success rate was 88.2%. Bailout stenting was required in 5 of the 17 patients (29.4%) and the 12-month primary patency rate was 82.4%. The clinically driven target lesion revascularization rate was 5.9% at 12 months. An embolic protection device was used in 23.5% of the patients. The following adverse events were reported: Distal embolization requiring treatment, 5.9% (1 patient with embolic protection device); and flow-limiting dissection requiring treatment, 5.9%. In the present study, there were no major adverse events (all-cause death, unplanned major amputation or target lesion revascularization) at 30 days after the intervention. Therefore, ELA combined with adjunctive DCBA for the treatment of chronic obstructive femoropopliteal arterial disease appears to be safe, practicable and associated with a high procedural success rate; furthermore, endoluminal-driven atherectomy may effectively reduce the requirement for stent placement in the lower limb arteries and is associated with long-term patency.