The PhD thesis of Anne Sofie F. Larsen confirms that endovascular treatment improves walking distance, peripheral blood flow and quality of life in patients with peripheral artery disease.

MAIN RESULTS:

1. Maximal walking distance and ankle brachial index improved significantly after endovascular treatment for peripheral artery disease.
2. The short VascuQoL-6 health-related quality of life questionnaire can be recommended in clinical practice.
3. Radiation exposure to the performing doctor was reduced to half during endovascular treatment when using a pressure syringe.

THESIS DEFENCE:

Thesis: Occupational radiation and additional registry outcomes in endovascular treatment of peripheral arterial disease
Candidate: Anne Sofie F. Larsen
Time: June 12, 2018 at 13:15
Place: University of Oslo, Domus Academica: Gamle festsal
Link to university website (in Norwegian)

SUMMARY:

(1) Endovascular treatment enables patients with severe peripheral artery disease to improve their walking distance by several hundred meters. Data from 242 Norwegian patients showed that the patients were able to walk 160 meters on a treadmill before the procedure. Three months later the maximum walking distance had increased to 410 meters, and more than 60 % of the patients were able to complete the ten minute test.

Ankle-brachial index also improved significantly at three month follow-up, indicating improved blood flow to the legs. All improvements lasted for the next year.

(2) A Norwegian translation of the VascuQoL-6 health-related quality of life questionnaire can be used to evaluate treatment of peripheral artery disease in clinical practice. By including 171 patients, Larsen and coworkers have shown that the questionnaire is reliable and valid when compared to the more comprehensive SF-36 questionnaire.

(3) In another article, currently awaiting publication, the researchers have found good agreement between reported quality of life and the doctors’ assessment of treatment results. The study includes both patients who received endovascular treatment and patients who were only informed about the disease. Quality of life improved in both groups.

(4) Endovascular treatment of peripheral artery disease puts the doctor at risk of radiation. Radiation dose was reduced to half when using a pressure syringe that allows the doctor to move further away from the source of radiation. Patient safety was not compromised.

REFERENCES:

(1) Larsen, A. S. F., Jacobsen, M. B., Wesche, J., & Kløw, N. E. (2017). Additional functional outcomes after endovascular treatment for intermittent claudication. Acta Radiologica, 58(8), 944-951..

(2) Larsen, A. S. F., Reiersen, A. T., Jacobsen, M. B., Kløw, N. E., Nordanstig, J., Morgan, M., & Wesche, J. (2017). Validation of the Vascular quality of life questionnaire–6 for clinical use in patients with lower limb peripheral arterial disease. Health and quality of life outcomes, 15(1), 184.