Standards for evaluating results of interventional therapy for peripheral vascular disease

Uniform standards for evaluating and reporting the results of therapeutic interventions for peripheral vascular disease are clearly needed. They are already established for vascular surgery, as represented by several reports by SVS/ISCVS committees, but they are not always followed by vascular surgeons and have been largely ignored by other vascular interventionists. In this article, the major problematic reporting practices are discussed and illustrated, and 14 recommendations are advanced to deal with them. They are intended to provide precise definitions, objective criteria of success or failure, standardized severity gradation schemes for peripheral vascular disease and its risk factors, and proper procedures for reporting the outcome of all forms of therapeutic intervention. Until these or some other agreed upon reporting standards are accepted and followed, the literature on peripheral vascular disease and its management will continue to be a source of confusion rather than enlightenment.