Retrospective review of superficial femoral artery stenting in diabetic patients: thiazolidinedione use may decrease reinterventions

BACKGROUND Diabetics are known to have inferior outcomes following peripheral vascular interventions. Thiazolidinediones are oral diabetic agents which improve outcomes following coronary bare metal stenting. No studies have been performed evaluating thiazolidinedione use and outcomes following lower extremity endovascular interventions. We hypothesize that diabetic patients taking thiazolidinediones at the time of primary superficial femoral artery (SFA) stenting have fewer reinterventions. METHODS A retrospective review was performed to identify diabetic patients undergoing primary SFA stenting. The unit of analysis was the extremity. The primary outcome was freedom from target lesion revascularization stratified by thiazolidinedione use, evaluated by Kaplan Meier curves and a log rank test. A Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to determine variables associated with freedom from target lesion revascularization. RESULTS SFA stents were placed in 138 extremities in 128 diabetic patients between August 1, 2001 and July 15, 2012. Twenty-four patients were taking thiazolidinediones at the time of SFA stenting. All patients taking thiazolidinediones had TASC A or B lesions. Twenty-seven extremities in the non-thiazolidinedione group had TASC C or D lesions and were excluded to control for disease severity. Freedom from target lesion revascularization was significantly higher in diabetics taking thiazolidinediones at 2 years, 88.5% vs. 59.4%, P = 0.02, SE < 10%. Cox modeling identified a protective trend for thiazolidinedione use (thiazolidinedione use HR 0.33, 95% CI 0.09-1.13), whereas critical limb ischemia and insulin use were associated with trends for worse freedom from target lesion revascularization. CONCLUSIONS This pilot, translation study demonstrates that diabetic patients taking thiazolidinediones at the time of primary SFA stenting have decreased reintervention rates at 2 years. These results may be explained by higher adiponectin levels or other anti-inflammatory effects in patients taking thiazolidinedione. National and regional quality improvement registries should consider collecting information regarding specific diabetic regimens and use of PPAR agonists such as cilostazol and fibrates.