Peripheral Microvascular Resistance as a Predictor for Limb Salvage

Salvaging a threatened limb is the key therapeutic objective for patients with critical limb ischemia, and the achievement of limb salvage is an independent predictor of patient morbidity and mortality. Despite successful primary endovascular or surgical intervention, the corresponding symptoms of rest pain and/or non-healing ulceration in some patients may continue, and amputation in these patients is unavoidable. It is hypothesized that the functional integrity of the peripheral vascular microcirculation may be impaired in these patients. However, there are currently no techniques that allow direct quantification and visualization of the microcirculation due to the micro-vessel invisibility under angiography. In the coronary circulation, coronary flow reserve (CFR) indicates the capacity for maximal hyperemic blood flow and reveals impaired coronary microvascular function. Studies have shown the clinical significance of measuring microvascular resistance to predict myocardial salvage after myocardial infarction. The study will explore whether this concept of coronary flow reserve can be applied peripherally to patients with critical limb ischemia in order to determine whether measuring peripheral vascular flow reserve can determine the integrity of the microcirculation to predict limb salvage after endovascular intervention.