Aortoiliac occlusive vascular disease: a prospective study of patients treated by endarterectomy and bypass procedures.

Aortiliac occlusive vascular disease is very common and very disabling. A prospective study of 150 patients with the disease causing severe claudication and rest pain was begun in 1972, with a mimimum follow-up period of three years. An operative mortality of 2% and hospital morbidity of 14% can be obtained with attention to the broad principles of arterial reconstruction and a meticulous technique, provided that there is excellent anaesthetic, operative, and postoperative support. Severe complications or adverse episodes have occurred in 44% of patients who continued to smoke after their operation, as opposed to 28% in those who stopped. Frequent follow-up visits of 96% of patients have led to the early detection of significant vascular disease elsewhere in some patients, and this may be of importance in determining the eventual prognosis of this serious disease.