PURPOSE

To quantify the deformations of the femoropopliteal (FP) segment in patients undergoing endovascular revascularization and to compare the posttreatment deformations caused by primary nitinol stent implantation to those produced by percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA).

METHODS

Thirty-five patients (mean age 69±10 years; 20 men) scheduled for endovascular therapy were recruited for the study. During endovascular interventions, angiographic images were acquired with the legs straight and with a hip/knee flexion of 20°/70°. Image acquisition was performed before PTA for all patients, after PTA in 17 patients receiving this treatment only, and after primary stent implantation in the remaining 18 patients. A semiautomatic approach was used to reconstruct the 3-dimensional patient-specific artery models from 2-dimensional radiographs. Axial shortening and curvature changes in the arteries in vivo were calculated for the calcified, dilated, and stented regions, as well as the regions that were distal and proximal to the diseased and treated segments.

RESULTS

Leg flexion resulted in shortening of the artery in all investigated FP segments. The dilated arteries exhibited greater shortening compared with their stented counterparts (post-PTA 7.6%±4.9%, poststent 3.2%±2.9%; p=0.004). Leg flexion also led to an increase in the curvatures of all the sections of the FP segment. While stented arteries had significantly higher curvature values than PTA within the regions proximal to the treated sections, the choice of the treatment method did not affect the curvature of the other segments. Despite this, 40% of the stented arteries exhibited kinking during leg flexion.

CONCLUSION

The choice of the treatment method affects the postinterventional axial deformations of the FP segment but does not influence the curvature behavior. While PTA results in a more flexible artery, stents restrict the arteries' shortening capabilities. Depending on the anatomical position of the stents, this axial stiffening of the arteries may lead to chronic kinking, which may cause occlusions and, consequently, affect the long-term success of the procedure.