[Femoral angioplasty. Long-term results]

A study on the long-term efficacy of femoral-popliteal angioplasty was carried out on 185 angioplasty cases over a 5 year follow-up period. A classification of data according to the type of lesion treated, revealed that results were favorable in case of stenosis (87%), short obstruction (70%) and long obstruction (35%). A special study of the outcome of treatments for stage IV arteritis was carried out. After comparing results with those obtained by other teams, the authors list the complications encountered, hematomas, and thromboses, and show their current tendency for regression. Lastly, the authors stress the advantages of angioscopy, which permits to identify the nature of the treated lesions and to predict possible complications, which are usually underrated by angiography.