Peripheral Angioplasty Devices

D uring the last 5 years, there has been a tremendous interest in the development of new devices for percutaneous treatment of peripheral and coronary artery obstructive arterial disease.1 As during the development of balloon angioplasty, many of these devices were first tested in peripheral arteries before their use in coronary arteries. Although this stage of new device development may no longer be necessary, it did serve to increase the interest in peripheral angioplasty as well as to generate some controversy about the appropriate indications for peripheral angioplasty. The key scientific issue is to determine the appropriate roles for these new devices relative to the existing treatment modalities of conventional balloon angioplasty and bypass surgery. Ideally, randomized trials would