The CLASE Study: Endovascular Management of the Superficial Femoral Artery

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.Objectives – The purpose of this study was to compare endovascular treatment modalities for peripheral vascular disease in the femoropopliteal arteries with respect to technical success, efficacy, and patency at mid-term follow up. Methods – A retrospective review of patients that underwent endovascular management of the femoropopliteal segment was conducted to evaluate patency. The CLASE study included five treatment arms: cryoplasty, laser, angioplasty/stent, Silverhawk atherectomy, and Viabahn endoluminal graft. Results – Between November 2004 and May 2009, 306 patients met inclusion criteria. There was a statistically significant difference in patencies among treatment groups (p=0.016), driven by laser having a significantly lower patency than the angioplasty/stent, Silverhawk atherectomy, and Viabahn endoluminal graft groups. Conclusions – Many of the expensive endovascular devices have poor patencies lasting less than six months. Angioplasty/stent is not inferior to these new devices, and may remain the standard of care.This item is part of the College of Medicine - Phoenix Scholarly Projects 2012 collection. For more information, contact the Phoenix Biomedical Campus Library at pbc-library@email.arizona.edu