The Preliminary Outcome of Laser-Assisted Angioplasty Combined with Endovascular Radiofrequency Ablation for...

Endovascular therapies have not yet had an ideal effect on thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) and no data have been published about laser-assisted angioplasty (LA) combined with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for TAO. This study aimed to investigate the outcome of LA combined with RFA for TAO.

Sixteen consecutive patients underwent LA and RFA procedures between June 2018 and March 2019 in this prospective pilot study. The clinical outcomes and complications were assessed at 6, 12, and 18 months after the procedure. The primary endpoint was defined as the limb salvage rate and freedom of target-lesion revascularization (f-TLR) of the limb, and the effect on the outcome was assessed by the ankle brachial index (ABI), numerical rating scores (NRSs), and the EuroQol Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire (EQ-5D).

Men accounted for 87.5% of the patients. All patients underwent LA, and following the RFA procedure, two patients received bailout stenting (12.50%). The technique success rate was 100%, and no severe complications occurred. The ABI was significantly higher at the 18-month follow-up than at baseline (P < 0.001). The primary and secondary patency rates were 71.82% and 79.80%, respectively, and the f-TLR and limb salvage rates were 90% and 92.86% based on Kaplan-Meier analysis. The EQ-5D value was higher after the procedure than at baseline (P < 0.001), and the NRS value was lower after the procedure than at baseline (P < 0.001).

Our results confirmed that LA combined with RFA was a feasible procedure that resulted in acceptable limb salvage and f-TLR rates.