CLINICAL INVESTIGATION Cryoplasty Versus Conventional Balloon Angioplasty of the Femoropopliteal Artery in Diabetic Patients: Long-Term Results from a Prospective Randomized Single-Center Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate and long-term results of cryoplasty versus conventional balloon angioplasty in the femoropopliteal artery of diabetic patients. Fifty diabetic patients (41 men, mean age 68 years) were randomized to cryoplasty (group CRYO; 24 patients with 31 lesions) or conventional balloon angioplasty (group COBA; 26 patients with 34 lesions) of the femoropopliteal artery. Technical success was defined as \30% residual stenosis without any adjunctive stenting. Primary end points included technical success, primary patency, binary in-lesion restenosis ([50%), and freedom from target lesion recanalization. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to adjust for confounding factors of heterogeneity. In total, 61.3% (19 of 31) in group CRYO and 52.9% (18 of 34) in group COBA were de novo lesions. More than 70% of the lesions were Transatlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) B and C in both groups, and 41.4% of the patients in group CRYO and 38.7% in group COBA suffered from critical limb ischemia. Immediate technical success rate was 58.0% in group CRYO versus 64.0% in group COBA (p = 0.29). According to 3-year Kaplan–Meier estimates, there were no significant differences with regard to patient survival (86.8% in group CRYO vs. 87.0% in group COBA, p = 0.54) and limb salvage (95.8 vs. 92.1% in groups CRYO and COBA, respectively, p = 0.60). There was a nonsignificant trend of increased binary restenosis in group CRYO (hazard ratio [HR] 1.3; 95% CI 0.6–2.6, p = 0.45). Primary patency was significantly lower in group CRYO compared with group COBA (HR 2.2; 95% CI 1.1–4.3, p = 0.02). Significantly more repeat intervention events because of recurrent symptoms were required in group CRYO (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.2–5.3, p = 0.01). Cryoplasty was associated with lower primary patency and more clinically driven repeat procedures after long-term follow-up compared with conventional balloon angioplasty.