ABSTRACT
In their study, Therasse et al. tested the theory that external beam radiation would be more practical to administer than VBT after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in reducing restenosis. After femoropopliteal PTA without stent placement, 99 patients were randomly assigned to 0 Gy (placebo; n = 24), 7 Gy (n = 24), 10.5 Gy (n = 26), or 14 Gy (n = 25) of external beam radiation of the PTA site (with a 3-cm margin at both extremities) in one session 24 hours after PTA. Restenosis > 50% was present in 50%, 65%, 48%, and 25% of patients, for the 0-, 7-, 10.5-, and 14-Gy groups, respectively (p = 0.072). At 18 months, repeated revascularizations were required in 25% of patients in the 0 Gy group versus 12% of patients in the 14-Gy group (p = 0.24). It was found that a single session of external beam radiation of 14 Gy of the femoropopliteal angioplasty site significantly reduced restenosis at 1 year.9
