Efficacy of Viabahn® in the Treatment of Severe Superficial Femoral Artery Lesions: Which Factors Influence Long-term Patency?

Purpose To evaluate superficial femoral artery (SFA) occlusive disease treatment by means of covered stents. Study design retrospective. Method From 2000 to 2005, a Hemobahn/Viabahn ® endoprosthesis was implanted in 102 limbs (95 patients; mean age: 72.1 years, 52–94) for intermittent claudication (group I, n  = 50 limbs), critical (group II, n  = 32) or acute ischemia (group III, n  = 20). Lesions treated were Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) A ( n  = 9) B ( n  = 42), C ( n  = 28) or D ( n  = 23), associated with a good (2 or 3 leg arteries, n  = 60) or a poor (1 or 0 artery, n  = 42) runoff. Results The endograft was placed successfully in all cases, but 3 early deaths (3.2%) (1 in group II and 2 in group III), and 4 acute thromboses (4%) occurred. Primary and secondary actuarial patency rates were 97 ± 1.7%, and 99 ± 1% at 1 month, 74 ± 4.8% & 84 ± 4.1% at 1 year,and 71 ± 9.5% & 79 ± 8.5% at 3 years, after a mean follow-up of 30.2 months (1–60). Long-term primary and secondary patencies were significantly different between TASC Cand TASC D lesions (P .004 & .001) . Conclusion Severity of lesions, rather than preoperative symptoms or runoff, is mainly to be considered before using Hemobahn/Viabahn ® endoprosthesis in severe SFA occlusive lesions.