Effective revascularization of the patient with peripheral artery disease is about more than the procedure. The approach to the patient with symptom-limiting intermittent claudication or ...limb-threatening ischemia begins with understanding the population at risk and variation in clinical presentation. The urgency of revascularization varies significantly by presentation; from patients with intermittent claudication who should undergo structured exercise rehabilitation before revascularization (if needed) to those with acute limb ischemia, a medical emergency, who require revascularization within hours. Recent years have seen the rapid development of new tools including wires, catheters, drug-eluting technology, specialized balloons, and biomimetic stents. Open surgical bypass remains an important option for those with advanced disease. The strategy and techniques employed vary by clinical presentation, lesion location, and lesion severity. There is limited level 1 evidence to guide practice, but factors that determine technical success and anatomic durability are largely understood and incorporated into decision-making. Following revascularization, medical therapy to reduce adverse limb outcomes and a surveillance plan should be put in place. There are many hurdles to overcome to improve the efficacy of lower extremity revascularization, such as restenosis, calcification, microvascular disease, silent embolization, and tools for perfusion assessment. This review highlights the current state of revascularization in peripheral artery disease with an eye toward technologies at the cusp, which may significantly impact current practice.
Critical limb ischemia, first defined in 1982, was intended to delineate a subgroup of patients with a threatened lower extremity primarily because of chronic ischemia. It was the intent of the ...original authors that patients with diabetes be excluded or analyzed separately. The Fontaine and Rutherford Systems have been used to classify risk of amputation and likelihood of benefit from revascularization by subcategorizing patients into two groups: ischemic rest pain and tissue loss. Due to demographic shifts over the last 40 years, especially a dramatic rise in the incidence of diabetes mellitus and rapidly expanding techniques of revascularization, it has become increasingly difficult to perform meaningful outcomes analysis for patients with threatened limbs using these existing classification systems. Particularly in patients with diabetes, limb threat is part of a broad disease spectrum. Perfusion is only one determinant of outcome; wound extent and the presence and severity of infection also greatly impact the threat to a limb. Therefore, the Society for Vascular Surgery Lower Extremity Guidelines Committee undertook the task of creating a new classification of the threatened lower extremity that reflects these important considerations. We term this new framework, the Society for Vascular Surgery Lower Extremity Threatened Limb Classification System. Risk stratification is based on three major factors that impact amputation risk and clinical management: Wound, Ischemia, and foot Infection (WIfI). The implementation of this classification system is intended to permit more meaningful analysis of outcomes for various forms of therapy in this challenging, but heterogeneous population.
Inflammation and its resolution are central to vascular injury and repair. Maresins comprise a new family of bioactive lipid mediators synthesized from docosahexaenoic acid, an ω-3 polyunsaturated ...fatty acid. They have been found to exert anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving responses in macrophages, neutrophils and bronchial epithelial cells and impart beneficial actions in murine models of peritonitis and colitis. We investigated the impact of maresin-1 (MaR1) on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) induced inflammatory responses in human vascular endothelial (EC) and smooth muscle cells (VSMC).
Primary cultures of human saphenous vein EC and VSMC were employed. We tested the naturally occurring MaR1 as modulator of TNF-α effects, with examination of monocyte adhesion, oxidant stress, and intracellular inflammatory signaling pathways.
MaR1 attenuated TNF-α induced monocyte adhesion and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in both EC and VSMC, associated with down-regulated expression (cell surface) of the adhesion molecule E-selectin (in EC) and NADPH-oxidases (NOX4, NOX1, NOX2). MaR1 attenuated TNF-α induced release of pro-inflammatory mediators by EC and VSMC. MaR1 caused an attenuation of TNF-α induced NF-κB activation in both cell types associated with inhibition of I-κ Kinase (IKK) phosphorylation, IκB-α degradation and nuclear translocation of the NF- κB p65 subunit. MaR1 also caused a time-dependent increase in intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) in both naive and TNF-α stimulated VSMC and EC.
MaR1 has broad anti-inflammatory actions on EC and VSMC, which may be partly mediated through up-regulation of cAMP and down-regulation of the transcription factor NF-κB. The results suggest that the pro-resolving lipid mediator MaR1 exerts homeostatic actions on vascular cells that counteract pro-inflammatory signals. These findings may have direct relevance for acute and chronic states of vascular inflammation.
Objective Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Because most patients with CLI will eventually undergo some type of revascularization, the natural history of ...CLI is not well defined, although it is important to know when patients decide to pursue treatment. Methods We systematically searched multiple databases for controlled and uncontrolled studies of patients with CLI who did not receive revascularization with a minimum follow-up of ≥1 year. Predefined outcomes of interest were mortality, major amputation, and wound healing. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool cumulative incidence across studies. Results We identified 13 studies enrolling 1527 patients. During a median follow-up of 12 months, all-cause mortality rate was 22% (confidence interval CI, 12%-33%) and major amputation rate was 22% (CI, 2%-42%). Worsened wound or ulcer was found at 35% (CI, 10%-62%). There was a trend toward improvement in mortality and amputation rate in studies done after 1997. The quality of evidence was low because of increased risk of bias and inconsistency. Conclusions Mortality and major amputations are common in patients who have untreated CLI during a median follow-up of 1 year, although these outcomes have improved in recent times.
Background
In 2007, we reported a summary of data comparing diabetic foot complications to cancer. The purpose of this brief report was to refresh this with the best available data as they currently ...exist. Since that time, more reports have emerged both on cancer mortality and mortality associated with diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), Charcot arthropathy, and diabetes‐associated lower extremity amputation.
Methods
We collected data reporting 5‐year mortality from studies published following 2007 and calculated a pooled mean. We evaluated data from DFU, Charcot arthropathy and lower extremity amputation. We dichotomized high and low amputation as proximal and distal to the ankle, respectively. This was compared with cancer mortality as reported by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.
Results
Five year mortality for Charcot, DFU, minor and major amputations were 29.0, 30.5, 46.2 and 56.6%, respectively. This is compared to 9.0% for breast cancer and 80.0% for lung cancer. 5 year pooled mortality for all reported cancer was 31.0%.
Direct costs of care for diabetes in general was $237 billion in 2017. This is compared to $80 billion for cancer in 2015. As up to one‐third of the direct costs of care for diabetes may be attributed to the lower extremity, these are also readily comparable.
Conclusion
Diabetic lower extremity complications remain enormously burdensome. Most notably, DFU and LEA appear to be more than just a marker of poor health. They are independent risk factors associated with premature death. While advances continue to improve outcomes of care for people with DFU and amputation, efforts should be directed at primary prevention as well as those for patients in diabetic foot ulcer remission to maximize ulcer‐free, hospital‐free and activity‐rich days.
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) continues to grow in global prevalence and consumes an increasing amount of resources in the United States health care system. Overall rates of intervention for PAD ...have been rising steadily in recent years. Changing demographics, evolution of technologies, and an expanding database of outcomes studies are primary forces influencing clinical decision making in PAD. The management of PAD is multidisciplinary, involving primary care physicians and vascular specialists with varying expertise in diagnostic and treatment modalities. PAD represents a broad spectrum of disease from asymptomatic through severe limb ischemia. The Society for Vascular Surgery Lower Extremity Practice Guidelines committee reviewed the evidence supporting clinical care in the treatment of asymptomatic PAD and intermittent claudication (IC). The committee made specific practice recommendations using the GRADE (Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation) system. There are limited Level I data available for many of the critical questions in the field, demonstrating the urgent need for comparative effectiveness research in PAD. Emphasis is placed on risk factor modification, medical therapies, and broader use of exercise programs to improve cardiovascular health and functional performance. Screening for PAD appears of unproven benefit at present. Revascularization for IC is an appropriate therapy for selected patients with disabling symptoms, after a careful risk-benefit analysis. Treatment should be individualized based on comorbid conditions, degree of functional impairment, and anatomic factors. Invasive treatments for IC should provide predictable functional improvements with reasonable durability. A minimum threshold of a >50% likelihood of sustained efficacy for at least 2 years is suggested as a benchmark. Anatomic patency (freedom from restenosis) is considered a prerequisite for sustained efficacy of revascularization in IC. Endovascular approaches are favored for most candidates with aortoiliac disease and for selected patients with femoropopliteal disease in whom anatomic durability is expected to meet this minimum threshold. Conversely, caution is warranted in the use of interventions for IC in anatomic settings where durability is limited (extensive calcification, small-caliber arteries, diffuse infrainguinal disease, poor runoff). Surgical bypass may be a preferred strategy in good-risk patients with these disease patterns or in those with prior endovascular failures. Common femoral artery disease should be treated surgically, and saphenous vein is the preferred conduit for infrainguinal bypass grafting. Patients who undergo invasive treatments for IC should be monitored regularly in a surveillance program to record subjective improvements, assess risk factors, optimize compliance with cardioprotective medications, and monitor hemodynamic and patency status.
The optimal strategy for revascularization in infrainguinal chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) remains debatable. Comparative trials are scarce, and daily decisions are often made using ...anecdotal or low-quality evidence.
We searched multiple databases through May 7, 2017, for prospective studies with at least 1-year follow-up that evaluated patient-relevant outcomes of infrainguinal revascularization procedures in adults with CLTI. Independent pairs of reviewers selected articles and extracted data. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool outcomes across studies.
We included 44 studies that enrolled 8602 patients. Periprocedural outcomes (mortality, amputation, major adverse cardiac events) were similar across treatment modalities. Overall, patients with infrapopliteal disease had higher patency rates of great saphenous vein graft at 1 and 2 years (primary: 87%, 78%; secondary: 94%, 87%, respectively) compared with all other interventions. Prosthetic bypass outcomes were notably inferior to vein bypass in terms of amputation and patency outcomes, especially for below knee targets at 2 years and beyond. Drug-eluting stents demonstrated improved patency over bare-metal stents in infrapopliteal arteries (primary patency: 73% vs 50% at 1 year), and was at least comparable to balloon angioplasty (66% primary patency). Survival, major amputation, and amputation-free survival at 2 years were broadly similar between endovascular interventions and vein bypass, with prosthetic bypass having higher rates of limb loss. Overall, the included studies were at moderate to high risk of bias and the quality of evidence was low.
There are major limitations in the current state of evidence guiding treatment decisions in CLTI, particularly for severe anatomic patterns of disease treated via endovascular means. Periprocedural (30-day) mortality, amputation, and major adverse cardiac events are broadly similar across modalities. Patency rates are highest for saphenous vein bypass, whereas both patency and limb salvage are markedly inferior for prosthetic grafting to below the knee targets. Among endovascular interventions, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and drug-eluting stents appear comparable for focal infrapopliteal disease, although no studies included long segment tibial lesions. Heterogeneity in patient risk, severity of limb threat, and anatomy treated renders direct comparison of outcomes from the current literature challenging. Future studies should incorporate both limb severity and anatomic staging to best guide clinical decision making in CLTI.