Interventional angiology

There has been a significant increase in the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) worldwide due to the aging population and the increase in relevant risk factors, especially diabetes. Due to technical and methodological improvements over the past 20 years, minimally invasive endovascular procedures are increasingly used when revascularization for PAD is required. Thus, even complex, long lesions can now be successfully treated using endovascular techniques. Recent data show better patency rates with the use of paclitaxel-eluting balloons and stents after femoropoliteal interventions, although safety concerns should be considered. Bypass surgery remains an important option for patients with advanced disease. An advantage for bypass surgery was reported in the BEST CLI study for the use of an adequate great saphenous vein in patients with chronic, limb-threatening ischemia. For selected patients in whom standard endovascular or surgical revascularization is not an option, the concept of endovascular arterialization of deep veins has been developed and investigated in multicenter studies.