Aortoiliac endarterectomy in young patients.

From 1976 to 1981 a total of 304 aortoiliac thromboendarterectomies (TEA) were carried out. Of these, 47 (16%) were performed in young patients: 25 cases were done through a transperitoneal and 22 through a retroperitoneal approach. All retroperitoneal operations were unilateral. All patients were smokers. Twenty-seven patients had incapacitant claudication, 14 had rest pain and 6 had necrotic lesions. Patency rates at four years were 78% for transperitoneal TEA and 79% for retroperitoneal unilateral TEA. These patency rates compared favorably with those obtained using similar techniques in patients over 50 years of age. In this older group, similar 4 year patency rates were 85% and 82%, respectively. The morbidity and mortality of these approaches was analyzed in patients above and below the age of 50. Our results support the use of TEA in young patients with symptomatic advanced atherosclerosis and question the wisdom of limiting the use of TEA to localized segmental lesions of the aortoiliac segment.