Ilio-femoral and femoro-femoral crossover grafting. Analysis of an 11-year experience.

Experience with 131 crossover arterial bypass grafts for lower limb revascularization has been reviewed. Ninety-nine grafts were placed as a primary procedure for unilateral iliac artery occlusive (97) or aneurysmal (2) disease. In contrast 32 grafts were placed as a secondary procedure following the failure of a previous unilateral or bilateral conventional aorto-iliac reconstruction. Fifteen patients were not suitable for a crossover procedure without the addition of a concomitant donor limb inflow reconstruction. The one month operative mortality rate was 6.1%. The five-year cumulative patency rate was 71.4% +/- 6.0 in primary procedures and 38.1% +/- 11.3 in secondary procedures (p less than 0.05). No difference in the success rate was shown when the vein graft patency curve was compared with the synthetic graft patency curve. However, the use of a small caliber vein (6 mm or less) resulted in the lowest patency rate. No other factors affecting patency were found. This report tends to support the fact that ilio-femoral or femoro-femoral crossover bypass is a safe and effective procedure for managing unilateral iliac artery occlusive disease. With proper selection of patients, a wider use of the method is justified.