Incidence and clinical significance of distal embolization during percutaneous interventions involving the superficial femoral artery.

Objective: Distal embolization of plaque or thrombus may cause organ ischemia following percutaneous peripheral interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and clinical significance of particulate embolization during percutaneous superficial femoral artery (SFA) intervention by monitoring with continuous Doppler ultrasound. The rate and timing of embolization at various phases of intervention such as guidewire crossing, balloon angioplasty, stent deployment, and directional atherectomy were analyzed and compared.

Methods: Sixty patients underwent SFA intervention. Of these 60 patients, 10 patients underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) alone, 40 patients underwent PTA with stenting, and 10 patients underwent plaque excision with the SilverHawk atherectomy device (8) or Spectranetics excimer laser (2) with or without additional PTA or stent placement. A 4-MHz Doppler probe was used for continuous monitoring in the ipsilateral popliteal artery. Distal embolization was registered as embolic signals (ES). ES were quantitatively assessed during critical portions of the procedure including guidewire crossing, balloon angioplasty, stent deployment and/or atherectomy. ES during different phases of intervention were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results: ES was noted in every patient during wire crossing, angioplasty, stent deployment and atherectomy. The average number of ES noted during guidewire crossing was 8, PTA was 12, stent deployment was 28, SiverHawk atherectomy was 49, and Spectranetics excimer laser was 51. The frequency of ES was statistically higher during stent deployment vs wire crossing or balloon angioplasty but equivalent to that generated by plaque excision. ES was observed more frequent during balloon angioplasty than during wire crossing. In one patient who was treated with the excimer laser, a single runoff vessel was occluded with embolic debris but patency was restored angiographically after thrombolysis. The patient went on to require below knee amputation. During follow-up, all patients with claudication reported improved symptoms and those with ulcers or gangrene demonstrated healing. The average increase in ankle-brachial index following intervention was 0.31.

Conclusion: While ES were recorded at each step of SFA intervention, the frequency was greatest during stent deployment. Despite the frequency of these events, only one patient developed angiographically and clinically significant embolization. Thus, our findings do not support the routine use of protection devices during percutaneous SFA intervention.