Fifteen-year experience in axillofemoral bypass with externally supported knitted Dacron prosthesis in a Japanese hospital.

Abstract

Recently, several reports in the United States have demonstrated remarkable improvement in the patency of axillofemoral (AXF) bypass with an externally supported prosthesis. The purpose of this study was to review the prognoses regarding graft patency, limb salvage, and survival of patients who underwent AXF bypass grafting with an externally supported, knitted Dacron prosthesis (EXS) in a Japanese hospital and to analyze what factors affected the graft patency. The clinical records of 81 patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO) who underwent 47 axillounifemoral bypasses and 34 axillobifemoral bypasses with EXS were retrospectively checked and, by uni- and multivariate analysis, perioperative factors were evaluated. The cumulative primary and secondary patency rates of AXF bypass grafts were 81% and 88%, 73% and 80%, and 70% and 77% at 3, 5, and 7 years, respectively, with no change thereafter. Limb salvage rate was 100%. The operative mortality was 3.7% and the survival rate was 63%, 41%, and 35% at 3, 5, and 7 years, respectively. The risk factors adversely affecting the patency were age (younger than 75 years), poor distal runoff, and preoperative leukocyte count (more than 8,000/microL) by univariate analysis, none of which were significant by stepwise multivariate analysis. AXF bypass using EXS was an acceptable procedure in ASO patients at high risk for conventional anatomic bypass or with limited life expectancy, and there was no significant risk factor that independently affected the patency.