[The femoral artery: the most complex peripheral vessel]

The superficial femoral artery (SFA) is a unique vessel in terms of its anatomy, its function and its interventional requirements; it has no comparison in any other arterial vascular bed. It is a long conduction vessel with a high flow resistance underlying several different hemodynamic conditions. In the past 15 years the unique characteristics of the SFA have resulted in poor interventional outcomes, with mid-term restenosis rates in the order of 50%--outcomes that are worse than in any other arterial vascular bed. In view of the clinical importance of SFA treatment, which comprises about 50% of all interventions at peripheral arterial lesions, considerable efforts have been made with a variety of interventional techniques to achieve progress. Only the use of self-expanding nitinol stents appears to improve the mid-term results of catheter-based interventional SFA treatment.