Re: Risk of Death and Amputation with Use of Paclitaxel-Coated Balloons in the Infrapopliteal Arteries for Treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

We are concerned about the appropriateness of publishing the study, “Risk of Death and Amputation with Use of Paclitaxel-Coated Balloons in the Infrapopliteal Arteries for Treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials” ( 1 Katsanos K. Spiliopoulos S. Kitrou P. Krokidis M. Paraskevopoulos I. Karnabatidis D. Risk of death and amputation with use of paclitaxel-coated balloons in the infrapopliteal arteries for treatment of critical limb ischemia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2020; 31: 202-212 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar ). Risk of Death and Amputation with Use of Paclitaxel-Coated Balloons in the Infrapopliteal Arteries for Treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled TrialsJournal of Vascular and Interventional RadiologyVol. 31Issue 2PreviewA formal systematic review and study-level meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating treatment of the infrapopliteal arteries with paclitaxel-coated balloons compared with conventional balloon angioplasty for critical limb ischemia (CLI) was conducted. Medical databases and online content were last screened in September 2019. The primary safety and efficacy endpoint was amputation-free survival defined as freedom from all-cause death and major amputation. Target lesion revascularization (TLR) constituted a secondary efficacy endpoint. Full-Text PDF Reply to: “Re: Risk of Death and Amputation with Use of Paclitaxel-Coated Balloons in the Infrapopliteal Arteries for Treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials”Journal of Vascular and Interventional RadiologyVol. 31Issue 6PreviewWe thank Schneider and Varcoe for their interest in our recent meta-analysis on risk of death and amputation with the use of paclitaxel-coated balloons in the infrapopliteal arteries for treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI) (1). We are deeply saddened by their combative attitude, scorning tone, and obliviousness of good practice in meta-analysis. Following up on our previous work that showed significantly increased long-term risk of death with the use of paclitaxel-coated devices in the femoropopliteal artery (2), we next examined the safety of those devices in the infrapopliteal arteries for the treatment of CLI. Full-Text PDF