Paramalleolar Arterial Bollinger Score in the Era of Diabetes and End-Stage Renal Disease - Usefulness for Predicting Operative Outcome of Critical Limb Ischemia

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of paramalleolar arterial Bollinger score (PBS) for predicting postoperative outcome of infra-popliteal bypass surgery for critical limb ischemia (CLI). Methods and Results: A total of 104 consecutive patients (118 limbs) who underwent infra-popliteal (tibial or paramalleolar) arterial bypass surgery with an autologous vein conduit for the treatment of CLI (Rutherford 4-6) between January 2002 and December 2012 were classified according to PBS <= 45 or >45. Postoperative outcome was compared between these groups. Primary outcomes were major adverse limb events plus perioperative death, and amputation-free survival (AFS). The secondary outcomes were overall survival, limb salvage and secondary graft patency. More than 80% of patients had either diabetes mellitus (DM) or end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and 30 patients with 36 limbs had PBS >45. Compared with the PBS <= 45 group, the PBS >45 group had higher CVD and carotid stenosis rate, poor nutrition status and lower malignancy rate. On overall analysis, the PBS >45 group had worse outcome for AFS and survival but this was not statistically significant (P=0.12, NS). In DM or ESRD patients, the PBS >45 group had significantly worse outcome for both AFS (P=0.04, 0.02) and overall survival rate (P=0.04, 0.03). Conclusions: PBS successfully classified CLI patients with DM or ESRD who had worse outcome after infra-popliteal bypass surgery.