Combination of Percutaneous Rotational Thrombectomy and Drug-Coated Balloon for Treatment of Femoropopliteal Artery Nonembolic Occlusion: 12-Month Follow-up

Purpose: To evaluate safety and efficacy of percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy using the Rotarex catheter combined with drug-coated balloon (DCB) in treatment of femoropopliteal artery occlusive disease. Materials and Methods: Between January 2016 and February 2018, 81 patients with acute or subacute femoropopliteal artery occlusions were treated with the Rotarex catheter combined with DCB. Lesions were classified according to the onset of symptoms as acutely (< 14 d) or subacutely (14 d to 3 mo) occluded. The mean lesion length was 12.1 cm +/- 6.7. The primary endpoint was target lesion patency at 1 year as evaluated by duplex ultrasound (peak systolic velocity ratio < 2.4) and freedom from clinically indicated target lesion revascularization. Amputation rate, major adverse events, and ankle-brachial index at 12 months were evaluated. Results: Technical success rate was 100% (n = 81). Bailout stents were necessary in 14 patients owing to residual stenosis or flow-limiting dissection. Additional thrombolysis was applied in 10 interventions. No major adverse events occurred during hospital stay. There were 9 restenosis cases during the 12-month follow-up period. Primary patency rate was 87.3% (62/71), and freedom from target lesion revascularization rate was 90.1% (64/71). Ankle-brachial index significantly increased from 0.46 +/- 0.15 to 0.77 +/- 0.14 during follow-up. The amputation rate was 1.4% at 12 months. Conclusions: These initial data from 2 centers suggest that the combination of the Rotarex catheter and DCB may be safe and effective for treatment of acute or subacute thrombotic femoropopliteal occlusion with superior immediate and midterm results achieved.