OBJECTIVE: The mechanism of angioplasty is disruption of atherosclerotic plaque, which often results in dissections. Dissection after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) remains a significant clinical problem and untreated may cause acute occlusion or later restenosis. Stents are used to manage dissections, which is often followed by in-stent restenosis and occasionally stent fracture. Tack (Intact Vascular, Wayne, Pa) implants have minimal metal and low radial force and are specifically designed for dissection repair. This study evaluated Tack implants for treatment of dissections resulting from standard balloon PTA for femoral-popliteal arterial disease. Twelve-month outcomes after Tack treatment of post-PTA dissections are described. METHODS: This prospective, single-arm study evaluated patients with ischemia (Rutherford clinical category 2-4) caused by lesions of the superficial femoral and popliteal arteries. Patients were treated with standard balloon angioplasty, and post-PTA dissections were treated with Tacks. The primary end points were core laboratory-adjudicated device technical success, defined as the ability of the Tack implants to resolve post-PTA dissection, and device safety, defined as the absence of new-onset major adverse events. Patients were followed up to 12 months after implantation. RESULTS: Tacks were used in 130 patients with post-PTA dissections (74.0% ≥ grade C). Technical success was achieved in 128 (98.5%) patients with no major adverse events at 30 days. The 12-month patency was 76.4%, and freedom from target lesion revascularization was 89.5%. Significant improvement from baseline was observed in Rutherford clinical category (82.8% with grade ≤1) and ankle-brachial index (0.68 ± 0.18 to 0.94 ± 0.15; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Tack implant treatment of post-PTA dissection was safe, produced reasonable patency, and resulted in low rates of target lesion revascularization. Tack treatment represents a new, minimal metal paradigm for dissection repair that can safely improve the clinical results associated with PTA.

Academic Teaching Hospital of the Universities of Kiel Luebeck and Hamburg Heide Germany

Antwerp University Hospital Edegem Belgium

AZ St Blasius Hospital Dendermonde Belgium

Imeldaziekenhuis Bonheiden Belgium

Medical University Hospital Graz Graz Austria

St Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Universitäts Herzzentrum Freiburg Bad Krozingen Bad Krozingen Germany

University Hospital Leipzig Leipzig Germany

J Vasc Surg. 2016 Nov;64(5):1552. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2016.08.089. PubMed

References provided by Crossref.org

Treatment of infrapopliteal post-PTA dissection with tack implants: 12-month results from the TOBA-BTK study