Midterm Results of Endovascular Treatment for Complete Iliac Axis Occlusions Using Covered Stents

Endovascular treatment of complex aortoiliac disease is seeing a growing popularity despite the Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) II recommendations for open surgery in this cases. However, the available evidence does not focus particularly on patients with complete unilateral iliac axis obstruction (CIAO) (TASC II D4 group). This study reports mid-term results of endovascular therapy with covered stents for CIAO.

This is single-center retrospective review of patients with CIAO endovascular treatment from January 2015 to December 2017 (3 years). Two types of covered stents were used, alone or combined: the Viabahn self-expandable stent (W. L. Gore, Flagstaff, AZ) and the Advanta V12 balloon-expandable stent (Atrium-Maquet, Hudson, NH). Thirty-day outcomes, long-term patency (assessed with Kaplan-Meier estimates), in-hospital stay, and limb salvage were analyzed.

Thirty-nine patients with CIAO were treated in the period (87.2% male, mean age 64.3 ± 9 years). A majority presented with critical limb ischemia (56.4%, n = 22). Recanalization could be accomplished from an ipsilateral or contralateral femoral access in 82.1% of patients (1 case needed the use of a re-entry device), and from a left brachial access in 17.9%. Technical success was 100%. About 66.7% of cases received an aortic kissing stent technique. Common femoral artery/profundoplasty with prosthetic or bovine patch was associated with 74.3% of cases. Thirty-day mortality was 2.6% (1/39). Primary, assisted, and secondary patency rates at 24 months were all 96.8%. Mean in-hospital stay was 5 days; no limb loss was registered during follow-up.

Endovascular treatment of complete iliac axis occlusions can offer comparable midterm patency rates to open surgery aortoiliac femoral bypass, when an adequate combination of balloon and self-expandable covered stents is used and an appropriate outflow through the common femoral artery is warranted.