Indocyanine green fluorescence angiography for intraoperative assessment of blood flow: a feasibility study.

OBJECTIVE To introduce our preliminary experience with indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence angiography for the assessment of lower leg bypasses. METHODS 1ml of 0.5% indocyanine green was intravenously injected in 9 patients with PAD who underwent paramalleolar artery bypass using saphenous vein grafts. A newly developed near-infrared camera system (PDE; Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. Hamamatsu, Japan) was used for this study. RESULTS ICG fluorescence angiography was performed without any adverse events. Fluorescence images of ICG angiography could be viewed as real-time images of the angiography in eight patients, while one patient underwent graft revision with the absence of fluorescence in ICG angiography. CONCLUSION ICG fluorescence angiography is clinically feasible and may help surgeons assess the quality of lower leg bypasses.