Effectiveness and long-term outcomes of different crossing strategies for the endovascular treatment of iliac artery chronic Total occlusions

BACKGROUND: The iliac occlusive disease is usually treated with endovascular procedures in recent years. The effectiveness of different crossing approaches for these occlusions is not precisely known. We performed a retrospective study to explore the optimal crossing approach (antegrade versus retrograde) for iliac artery chronic total occlusions (CTOs) and to examine the long-term outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a study on 107 patients (116 iliac occlusive lesions, mean age 64.0 ± 11.1, 88 men) who underwent an iliac CTO endovascular intervention attempted with the use of both crossing strategies but were managed with one final crossing approach between August 2012 and August 2018. Baseline data, procedural characteristics, and outcomes were described. A Cox proportional hazard model and Kaplan-Meier method were developed to assess the differences in the two crossing approaches in terms of the 1-year and 5-year primary patency rates, target lesion revascularization (TLR) and major adverse limb events (MALEs). RESULTS: Common iliac artery (CIA) lesions were more likely to be crossed successfully in the retrograde direction (6.8% for antegrade vs. 20.9% for retrograde, p = 0.005), while lesions in the CIA/ external iliac artery (EIA) were more prone to be crossed successfully in the antegrade direction (58.9% for antegrade vs. 39.5% for retrograde, p = 0.016). There were no significant differences in the crossing approach for EIA lesions between the two groups. The two crossing approaches were associated with similar estimates of 1- and 5-year primary patency, TLR and MALE rates. CONCLUSION: The antegrade approach was associated with a higher rate of successful crossing in CIA/EIA CTO lesions, while the CIA-only CTOs were more likely to be crossed successfully with the retrograde approach.