Long-Term Outcomes of Iliofemoral Artery Stents after Transfemoral Aortic Valve Replacement

Abstract

Purpose: To report long-term results of iliofemoral stent placement after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Materials and methods: TAVR access-related complications treated with iliofemoral stent placement were recorded in 56 patients (mean age, 81 years; range; 53-93 years; 48% male) of 648 patients who underwent TAVR at a single center. Fifty-six patients treated with stent placement (40 patients with stent grafts and 16 patients with bare metal stents) underwent clinical and ultrasonographic follow-up after a mean of 676 days (range, 60-1840 days).

Results: During follow-up, none of the 56 patients who had stent placement underwent a vascular reintervention of the affected limb, and none suffered from limb claudication. No decrease was observed in ankle-brachial index (ABI) values to an abnormal value, except in 1 patient (mean preprocedural and postprocedural ABI of 1.2 ± 0.14, range, 0.97-1.4 and 1.19 ± 0.24, range, 0.65-1.54, respectively). Arterial duplex assessment showed normal stent flow velocity (mean, 168.7 ± 63.2 cm/sec; range, 80-345 cm/sec) in all but 1 patient.

Conclusion: Iliofemoral stent implantation is a safe and efficacious treatment for vascular access site and access-related complications during transfemoral TAVR.