Comparison of Balloon Angioplasty and Laser Thermal Angioplasty in the Treatment of Femoropopliteal Atherosclerotic Disease: Initial Results of a Prospective Randomized Trial: Work in Progress

The authors recently initiated a prospective randomized trial in which results of standard balloon angioplasty were compared with those of laser thermal angioplasty in the treatment of patients with symptoms of femoropopliteal occlusive disease. The data regarding their initial technical success are reported herein. Twenty-five patients with moderate to severe claudication have thus far undergone 27 procedures. The type of lesions treated varied from short focal stenoses to occlusions up to 10 cm in length; 12 stenoses and 15 occlusions were treated. Fourteen procedures were randomized to laser therapy and 13 to standard balloon angioplasty. If the primary randomized treatment failed, the alternative procedure was then attempted. Of the 14 laser procedures, five were initial failures; three of these failures were subsequently treated successfully with the balloon technique. Three of 13 balloon procedures were failures; none were subsequently successful with use of the laser. While these data are limited, initial experience indicates that technical success is directly related to the ability to pass an angiographic wire through the lesion and the length and type of lesions. It does not appear to depend on whether the laser or the balloon is used.