[Balloon angioplasty of the radial artery in critical hand ischaemia].

Presented herein are the results of treatment of five 63-to-72-year-old patients (four men and one woman) with critical upper limb ischaemia, which is one of rarely encountered pathologies. All patients suffered from type 2 diabetes mellitus. Two of them had end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and for 2 years were on haemodialysis. Four patients had gangrene of 1 finger and one patient had gangrene of 2 fingers. The main diagnostic methods included duplex scanning with measuring the gradient of pressure between the humeral and radial arteries, and MSCT angiography. The patients with ESRD received conservative therapy with the use of prostaglandin E1 and after limitation of necrosis sustained amputation of the fingers. Three patients were successfully managed by recanalization and balloon angioplasty of the radial artery's occluded segment. The patients underwent follow-up examinations at 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. During this period two patients with ESRD died. They had no relapses of critical ischaemia of the hand but developed gangrene of toes and were both subjected to successful balloon angioplasty of the crural arteries. One patient at 18 postoperative months was found to have reocclusion of the radial artery with hand pain at rest. He was subjected to successful repeat balloon angioplasty of the radial artery. CONCLUSION: Timely restoration of blood flow in this situation reduces the frequency of amputation. Percutaneous balloon angioplasty may become a method of choice in treatment of patients with critical hand ischaemia caused by occlusive lesions of arteries of the forearm.