Fatigue Behavior of Peripheral STENt of the Superficial Femoral Artery

Plain-language summary

Endovascular treatment of superficial femoral artery stenosis/obstruction is still the subject of debate in the scientific literature. Previous clinical studies have in fact reported conflicting data regarding the benefits of implanting self-expanding Nitinol stents in the superficial femoral artery district compared to simple percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Invariably, patient comorbidities and anatomic characteristics of the lesions appear to be important factors influencing procedural success and one-year patency rates. Additionally, there are concerns regarding the potential clinical impact of stent fractures, reported at rates ranging from 12% to 37.2% at one year. Despite the improved outcomes seen with newer Nitinol stent designs, the primary limitations of stenting in the superficial femoral artery are the use of multiple overlapping stents or long stents and the associated potential rate of stent fracture resulting reocclusion of the treated superficial femoral artery and clinical worsening of patients who in most cases are initially treated for disabling claudication. Being able to preoperatively determine in which patients there are risk factors prognostically associated with a higher rate of fracture/reocclusion could represent a help for the operator in choosing the best therapeutic strategy.

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