Saphenous vein size as a surrogate marker for mortality of patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia undergoing endovascular therapy.

Abstract Background: The size of the autologous vein graft is an important determinant of prognosis in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) undergoing bypass surgery. However, it is unclear whether reconstruction using a small vein graft would directly affect prognosis, or a subgroup having small veins would be subject to a poor prognosis. If the latter is true, having small veins would work as a marker for a poor prognosis even in patients with CLTI undergoing endovascular therapy (EVT). Therefore, we investigated the association between the size of saphenous veins and prognosis in patients with CLTI undergoing EVT. Methods: This study included 209 consecutive patients with CLTI who primarily underwent EVT between January 2017 and December 2018. The diameter of the saphenous vein was measured at three locations (saphenous-femoral junction, knee, and ankle joint) per limb before EVT by ultrasonography. A small saphenous vein was defined as the mean diameter Results: All-cause mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with a small saphenous vein than in those with non-small one (46.3% versus 10.7% at 2 years, p Conclusions: Having a small saphenous vein was an independent marker for all-cause mortality in patients with CLTI undergoing EVT.