Globally we are seeing an aging population with an increasing prevalence of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Consequently, the number of patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) is rising. Patients with CLI are at risk for both limb loss and premature death. Refinements in endovascular therapy have led to a paradigm shift in revascularization strategy in treating these complex patients.
Endovascular treatment of CLI is undergoing immense growth due to innovations in endovascular therapy. We are seeing enormous advances in both devices and procedure techniques. Patient outcomes are not all equal nor satisfactory. Increasingly we are seeing that the best outcomes occur in Centers of Excellence with dedicated limb salvage experts.
This article between 2 leading CLI Experts focuses on the inevitable movement towards identifying high quality operators and centers of excellence.
Patients with foot ulceration, and especially those with diabetes, are at an increased risk of amputation.
This paper is a meta-analysis looking at progression of peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
State of the art endovascular revascularization for critical limb ischemia