Comparison of mid-term graft patency in common femoral versus superficial femoral artery inflow for infra-geniculate bypass in the vascular quality initiative

Objectives The superficial femoral artery can be used as inflow for infra-geniculate bypass, but progressive proximal occlusive disease may affect graft durability. We sought to evaluate the effect of superficial femoral artery versus common femoral artery inflow on infra-geniculate bypass patency within a large contemporary multicenter registry. Methods The vascular quality initiative was queried from 2013 to 2019 to identify patients with >30-day patency follow-up, Rutherford chronic limb ischemia stage 1–6, and an infra-geniculate bypass, excluding those with prior ipsilateral bypass. The cohort was stratified by inflow vessel, with primary, primary-assisted, and secondary patency serving as the primary outcome variables. Multivariate Cox-proportional hazard models and radius-based propensity-score matching were performed to reduce treatment-selection bias due to clinical covariates. Results A total of 11,190 bypass procedures were performed (8378 common femoral artery inflow, 2812 superficial femoral artery) on 10,110 patients, with a mean follow-up of 12.8 months (range 1–98). Patients receiving superficial femoral artery inflow bypasses were more commonly male (p = 0.002), obese (p < 0.0001) and had chronic, limb threatening ischemia (p < 0.0001), whereas those with common femoral artery inflow were older (p < 0.0004), and had higher baseline comorbidities including smoking (p < 0.0001), coronary disease (p < 0.0001), and pulmonary disease (p < 0.0001). On life-table analysis, there was no significant difference in three year estimated primary (32.1 vs 30.1%, p = 0.928), primary assisted (60.5 vs 65.8%, p = 0.191), or secondary patency (62.5 vs 66.7%, p = 0.139) between superficial femoral artery and common femoral artery inflow groups, respectively. A multivariate Cox model found no significant association between inflow vessel and primary patency (0.96 [0.88–1.04], HR [95%CI]), primary-assisted (1.07 [0.95–1.20], HR [95%CI]), or secondary patency (1.08 [0.96–1.22]). In a propensity-matched cohort (n = 11,151), there were small but statistically significant differences in primary, primary-assisted, and secondary patency at latest follow-up (non-time-to-event data) between groups. The largest difference was observed when evaluating secondary patency, with common femoral artery inflow having a marginally higher secondary patency of 88.1% compared to 85.6% for those with superficial femoral artery inflow at latest follow-up (p = 0.009). Conclusions Within the vascular quality initiative, there is no significant difference in life-table determined three-year primary, primary-assisted, and secondary patency between infra-geniculate bypasses using common femoral artery inflow compared to superficial femoral artery inflow. Small, statistically significant differences exist in primary, primary-assisted, and secondary patency favoring common femoral artery inflow after propensity score matching. Long-term follow-up data are required in the vascular quality initiative to better evaluate bypass graft durability as this study was limited by a mean follow-up of one year.