Iliac vein obstruction associated with acute iliofemoral venous thrombosis. Results of early reconstruction using polytetrafluoroethylene grafts

The results of iliac vein reconstruction performed early after secondary iliofemoral venous thrombosis were retrospectively evaluated. The review comprised seven patients who underwent acute thrombectomy combined with cross-femoral (4 cases) or iliocaval (3 cases) bypass procedures using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts. The clinical course, graft patency and venous physiology were studied. Five patients had a satisfactory clinical course, but one patient died of postoperative complications and another underwent leg amputation after 20 months. Contrast and radionuclide phlebograms showed that only two grafts were still patent after two years, but only one of these was still patent five years postoperatively. Clinical symptoms and physiologic parameters correlated poorly with graft patency, demonstrating the necessity of phlebography in evaluating patency rates after venous surgery. Our study indicates that early venous reconstruction using PTFE grafts does not result in satisfactory long-term patency rates. Further development of graft materials suitable for the venous system is required.