Transbrachial and transfemoral approaches combined with visceral protection for the treatment of juxtarenal aortoiliac occlusive disease: Technical issues and clinical outcomes

Purpose To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transbrachial and transfemoral approaches combined with visceral protection for the endovascular treatment of juxtarenal aortoiliac occlusive disease (AIOD) over an average 19-month follow-up period. Methods In this retrospective analysis, all patients with juxtarenal AIOD at a single institution were reviewed from June 2015 to January 2020. Patient characteristics, angiographic results, and follow-up outcomes were retrospectively recorded. The indications for treatment were critical limb threatening ischemia in 12 patients and bilateral claudication in five patients. Percutaneous access via the left brachial artery was first obtained to recanalize the infrarenal occluded lesions. After that, femoral accesses were achieved. A 4-Fr catheter, a 4 mm balloon, or a 6-Fr 90-cm-long sheath was used to complete visceral artery protection. Results A total of 17 juxtarenal AIOD patients (14 males; mean age, 63.4 +/- 8.1 years) underwent endovascular treatment. The technical success rate was 100%. Complete reconstruction was achieved in 15 (88.2%) patients. The infrarenal aorta was reconstructed with kissing covered stent grafts (n = 7), kissing bare-metal stents (n = 2), covered stent grafts (n = 2), bare-metal stents (n = 1), or the off-label use of iliac limb stent grafts (n = 5). Renal embolization was found in 3 (17.6%) patients during intraoperative angiography. There was 1 (5.9%) case of distal runoff embolization after CDT and 1 (5.9%) case of left iliac artery rupture. One (5.9%) death occurred due to acute myocardial infarction 20 days after the operation. The average follow-up period was 19.3 +/- 16.7 months (range, 1-54 months) in the remaining 16 cases. The renal artery patency rate was 100%. The estimated cumulative primary patency rates were 92.3% at 12 months and 59.3% at 36 months according to the Kaplan-Meier method. Conclusions Transbrachial and transfemoral approaches combined with visceral protection offer a safe and effective alternative to open revascularization for the endovascular treatment of juxtarenal AIOD.