Antegrade-retrograde Intervention Technique Research Articles

“Catheter Kissing” Technique to Recanalize Chronic Total Occlusions in Iliac Artery with Wire-Catheter Approach

PurposeTo describe a technique in which two 5-F curved catheters were utilized to facilitate the wire-catheter approach for recanalizing chronic total occlusions (CTOs) in the iliac arteries concurrently affecting the common iliac artery and external iliac artery. MethodsThis was a single-center retrospective analysis involving endovascular recanalization of 17 iliac artery CTOs in 15 patients (mean age: 73.66 years; all men) between January 2019 and October 2022 using the subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade–retrograde intervention technique. With antegrade and retrograde guidewires in the subintimal spaces of CTOs, the location where the two guidewires seemed to overlap was identified as the rendezvous point. Although the two guidewires appeared to be in close proximity, there was no evidence that the bidirectional subintimal channels were connected. If several initial attempts failed, two 5-F multipurpose catheters were introduced to the rendezvous point, followed by twisting, pulling, and pushing maneuvers until the tips of the catheters touched, indicating that the bidirectional subintimal channels were joined. A second wire rendezvous attempt was then employed to create a flossing-type guidewire. Outcome measurements included technical success, rendezvous points, complications, and procedure duration. ResultsAmong this cohort, 80.0% smoked and 66.7% had hypertension. In 11 limbs (64.7%), when initial wire rendezvous attempts failed, the "catheter kissing" technique was employed to successfully recanalize iliac artery CTOs, taking an average of 3.80 ± 1.64 minutes to complete the secondary wire rendezvous. The average length of CTOs was 111.06 ± 9.99 mm, with 7 (41.2%) and 8 (47.1%) cases exhibiting severe calcification and flush occlusion, respectively. The wire rendezvous point for all cases was in EIA and the average time for successful secondary wire rendezvous was 3.80 ± 1.64 minutes. All patients were treated with iliac artery stents. No statistically significant difference was observed between the puncture sites of the common femoral artery and superficial femoral artery in relation to failure of the primary wire rendezvous (p = 0.644). No in-hospital deaths or complications were associated with the procedure, including iliac artery rupture, distal embolization, or access site complications. ConclusionIn patients with extensive iliac artery CTOs, the "catheter kissing" technique may offer an effective and time-efficient recanalization approach, without requiring additional specialized devices. Importantly, the risk of complications remains unchanged even when employing a wire rendezvous in a challenging subintimal space.

The Cupidon’s Strike Technique: How to Never Miss a Rendezvous While Going on SAFARI

One of the difficulties of the subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique (SAFARI) technique is to properly achieve a rendezvous between both antegrade and retrograde accesses. We propose a new technique to overcome this difficulty. It consists of directly percutaneously puncturing 2 loop snares, placed via each access, which are then both used to snare an externally introduced guidewire introduced through the needle. The snares are then moved en bloc, bringing both snares and the wire into the same channel.

Outcomes at a single center after subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention for critical limb ischemia

ObjectiveThe subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique has been used to overcome antegrade recanalization failures for peripheral lower limb arterial occlusive disease. There are few outcomes published for this technique and we sought to evaluate outcomes at our institution over a 7-year period. MethodsA retrospective review was performed of all subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention procedures of infrainguinal occlusive disease from 2009 to 2016. Retrograde and antegrade accesses were combined when occlusions could not be crossed from the antegrade direction. Baseline patient characteristics, procedures, procedure time, fluoroscopy time, contrast used, and radiation dose were collected. Posterior tibial waveforms, ankle-brachial index, limb salvage, vessel patency, and the presence of symptoms were assessed at follow-up. ResultsTreatment was performed in 52 limbs in 52 patients (35 men and 17 women; mean age, 77.62 ± 11.61 years) with critical limb ischemia and no appropriate venous conduit for surgical bypass. Among the cohort, 63.5% were diabetics, 98% had hypertension, 53.8% had a prior myocardial infarction, and 36.5% end-stage renal disease. The average Rutherford Category before the intervention was 5.08 ± 1.01. Retrograde pedal access was most commonly obtained in the anterior tibial artery/dorsalis pedis (55.7%), followed by the posterior tibial artery (40.3%). The technical success rate was 63.5% (33/52); adjunctive stenting was needed in 19 (36.5%) to optimize results. Preprocedural ankle-brachial index score was 0.54 ± 0.25, which improved after the procedure to an ankle-brachial index score of 0.77 ± 0.25. The primary patency rates at 3 and 6 months were 65% and 60%, respectively. The limb salvage rate at a mean follow-up of 5.4 months was 78.8%. There were 5 complications; 4 were hematomas managed conservatively and 1 was a major retroperitoneal bleed resulting in patient death. ConclusionsRetrograde pedal access is a viable revascularization technique for achieving limb salvage in patients with critical limb ischemia with acceptable patency for limb-threatening ischemia. This technique expands revascularization options after failed conventional endovascular antegrade approaches.

Endovascular retrograde recanalization in Asian critical limb ischaemia patients

To evaluate endovascular retrograde recanalization of critical limb ischaemia (CLI) patients with chronic total occlusions (CTOs) in an Asian population. We conducted a single centre-based retrospective review of CLI patients with CTOs who had undergone endovascular retrograde recanalization using the subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique. A total of 40 CLI patients with CTOs underwent endovascular intervention. The median age was 71 years; 67.5% were males and Chinese accounted for 65% of the patients, of which 55% were in Rutherford category 6, 37.5% in category 5 and 7.5% in category 4. Antegrade-retrograde access was performed via the femoral artery in 39 cases and the brachial artery in one case for the proximal puncture, and the following arteries for the distal puncture: superficial femoral, n = 4 (10%); popliteal, n = 4 (10%); anterior tibial, n = 12 (30%); dorsalis pedis, n = 9 (22.5%); peroneal, n = 4 (10%) and posterior tibial, n = 7 (17.5%). Technical success was high at 92.5% (n = 37). After intervention, 25% (n = 10) had below-knee triple vessel runoff, 52.5% (n = 21) had double vessel runoff and 15.0% (n = 6) had single vessel runoff. Stenting for target vessel dissections was required in 12 patients. There were two cases of significant bleeding; one common femoral artery pseudoaneurysm was treated with ultrasound-guided thrombin injection and another case of distal puncture site bleeding only required compression. Limb salvage at 1 year was 92.5% (n = 37). The subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique is safe with high technical success rates and acceptable outcomes in Asian CLI patients with CTOs.

Subintimal Arterial Flossing With Antegrade-Retrograde Intervention (SAFARI) and Rertograde Access for Critical Limb Ischemia

Retrograde access techniques involve the addition of a retrograde access into the distal target vessel to aid in recanalization of chronic total occlusions. Many patients with critical limb ischemia are also poor surgical candidates because of comorbidities or lack of suitable landing zone for bypass procedures. This approach may be helpful in the setting of chronic occlusions that cannot be crossed via conventional antegrade true-lumen approaches. Subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique can be used when the occlusion was crossed in the subintimal plane and antegrade re-entry techniques failed. It may also be useful for flush superficial femoral artery occlusions or those lesions that extend into the trifurcation vessels. Proficiency in these techniques allows limb salvage in patients who lack surgical options and would otherwise undergo amputation.

Retrograde Approach for Endovascular Salvage of an Infrapopliteal Vein Bypass

Endovascular treatment through femoropopliteal and infragenicular percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, both in native vessels and in bypass salvage, has been an emerging technique in recent years. However, in some cases, a difficult anterograde access in distal occlusions has limited the technical success of this procedure. Combined subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention is used as a resource technique to obtain precise recanalization in these cases. Here, we present the case of a retromalleolar access of the posterior tibial artery, based on subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention technique, to achieve femoral-posterior tibial bypass salvage.