Health-related quality of life after angioplasty and stent placement in patients with iliac artery occlusive disease: results of a randomized controlled clinical trial. The Dutch Iliac Stent Trial Study Group.

BACKGROUND

To assess the quality of life in patients with iliac artery occlusive disease, we compared primary stent placement versus primary angioplasty followed by selective stent placement in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Quality-of-life assessments were completed by 254 patients in a telephone interview. Assessment measures consisted of the RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0, time tradeoff, standard gamble, rating scale, health utilities index, and EuroQol-5D. The interviews were performed before treatment and after 1, 3, 12, and 24 months. When the 2 treatments were compared, no significant difference was observed (P>0.05). All measurements showed a significant improvement in the quality of life after treatment (P<0.05). The RAND 36-Item Health Survey measures physical functioning, role limitations caused by physical problems, and bodily pain and the EuroQol-5D were the most sensitive to the impact of revascularization.

CONCLUSIONS

Health-related quality of life improves equally after primary stent placement and primary angioplasty with selective stent placement in the treatment of intermittent claudication caused by iliac artery occlusive disease.