Thrombolysis and angioplasty of chronic iliac artery occlusions.

The role of percutaneous angioplasty in the management of chronic iliac artery occlusions is controversial. This article reviews 7 years of experience in treating patients with complete chronic iliac artery occlusions (n = 99) by using thrombolysis and angioplasty. Patients were not excluded due to age or length of the lesion, or severity of underlying peripheral vascular disease. Thrombolysis was conducted with infusion of urokinase at a rate of 60,000-80,000 IU/h for 24 hours. Angioplasty was then performed irrespective of the results of thrombolysis. Seventy-nine percent of patients responded to urokinase, with complete lysis achieved in 55%. Angioplasty was successful in all patients with complete thrombolysis and in 88% of those with partial thrombolysis. The overall success rate was 86%, and more than 80% of surviving patients were symptom free at 5 years. There were seven complications, and the 30-day mortality rate was 2%. Our present results confirm the efficacy of thrombolysis/angioplasty for chronic arterial occlusions.