Long-term outcomes of endovascular therapy for chronic limb-threatening ischemia patients with connective tissue disease.

In patients with connective tissue disease (CTD) and chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), revascularization is reported to be ineffective, with a poor prognosis and a high rate of lower-limb amputation. However, limited actual data are available. To study the long-term outcomes of endovascular therapy for CLTI patients with CTD, we established a multicenter registry (retrospective cohort study) in Japan. This study looked at major adverse extremity events, amputation-free survival, and all-cause mortality to better understand these rates. We registered 44 consecutive patients. The patients' mean age was 69.6 ± 11.4 years. There were 19 patients (43.2%) with diabetes, but only 4 patients (9.1%) were on dialysis. The average follow-up was 36.1 ± 31.7 months. In 11 patients (25.0%), the target wound healed without requiring lower-limb amputation. Target lesion revascularization occurred in 19 cases (43.2%), while unexpected minor amputations occurred in 11 cases (25.0%), major amputations in 8 cases (18.2%), and death in 15 cases (34.1%). The rates of freedom from major adverse extremity events at 1 and 3 years were 40.3% and 22.3%, respectively. The amputation-free survival rates were 69.3% at 1 year and 58.3% at 3 years. The survival rates were 85.5% at 1 year and 70.3% at 3 years. We conducted a multicenter study to look into the outcomes of CLTI patients with CTD who received endovascular therapy. Given the poor outcomes, more therapeutic advances for CLTI in CTD patients are needed.