Impact of estimated plasma volume status on clinical outcomes in patients with lower extremity artery disease who underwent endovascular therapy

Lower extremity artery disease (LEAD) is an arterial occlusive disease associated with high morbidity and mortality. Estimated plasma volume status (ePVS), a marker of plasma volume expansion and contraction, is gaining attention in the field of cardiovascular diseases. However, the impact of ePVS on the clinical outcomes of patients with LEAD remains unclear. We calculated ePVS using two different formulas, Kaplan–Hakim (KH-ePVS) and Duarte (D-ePVS), in 288 patients (mean age, 73 years; 77% male) with LEAD who underwent the first endovascular therapy (EVT), and prospectively followed them up between 2014 and 2019. All patients were divided into two groups based on the median ePVS values. The primary endpoints were composite events, including all-cause death and major adverse limb events (death/MALE). The median follow-up duration was 672 days. There were 183, 40 and 65 patients in Fontaine classes II, III, and IV, respectively. The median KH-ePVS and D-ePVS was 5.96 and 5.09, respectively. The ePVS significantly increased with advancing Fontaine classes. Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that the high ePVS group had higher rates of death/MALE than the low ePVS group. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed that each ePVS was an independent predictor for death/MALE after adjusting for confounding risk factors. The prognostic ability for death/MALE was significantly improved by adding ePVS to the basic predictors. ePVS was associated with LEAD severity and clinical outcomes, suggesting that ePVS could be an additional risk factor for death/MALE in patients with LEAD who underwent EVT. We demonstrated that the association between ePVS and the clinical outcomes of patients with LEAD. The prognostic ability for death/MALE was significantly improved by adding ePVS to the basic predictors. LEAD lower extremity artery disease, MALE major adverse limb events, PVS plasma volume status.