Abstract
Purpose: We measured R-P time using the inguinal and ankle Doppler waveforms before and after endovascular treatment (EVT) in the lower extremity arteries, and examined whether the ratio could be used as an index for hemodynamic evaluation of the lower limb arteries. Subjects and Methods: We enrolled 108 patients who did not have any stenotic lesions in the lower limb arteries between April 2019 and September 2020 as a control group, and 67 patients with 78 lesions (46 above-the-knee lesions, 32 below-the-knee lesions) who underwent EVT, duplex echo, and ankle brachial index (ABI) measurement before and after EVT. R-P time was measured at the common femoral artery (CFA), anterior tibial artery (ATA), and posterior tibial artery (PTA) at the ankle joint, and ATA/CFA R-P time ratio (R-P time ratio: RPR) and PTA/CFA RPR were calculated based on the R-P time of the CFA. Results and Discussion: The value of RPR was significantly higher in the diseased group than the control group. When the cutoff value was set to 1.41 based on the control group data, the sensitivity was 96%. Before and after EVT for above-the-knee lesions, RPR was significantly changed as well as ABI. On the other hand, ABI showed no significant difference before and after EVT for below-the-knee lesions, but RPR was significantly shortened. Conclusion: RPR was easily measured for evaluation of the hemodynamics of the lower limbs with high sensitivity. It could be suggested that RPR was able to achieve more precise evaluation of lower limb hemodynamics, especially in below-the-knee arteries, than ABI.
