Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty as a complement to surgery.

Transluminal angioplasty, a nonsurgical treatment for atherosclerotic occlusive disease, was performed on 56 arteries in 45 patients in conjunction with reconstructive vascular surgery. Twelve patients were treated presurgically, 12 patients were treated postsurgically, and 21 patients were treated intraoperatively. Some arteries were dilated to increase arterial inflow to the graft or to improve the distal runoff. In other cases, a major reconstructive surgical procedure was modified to a less traumatic or more favorable one. The long-term patency rate is still under investigation. The rate of success was 95%.