Early experience with a new concept of angioplasty Nitinol-constrained balloon catheter (Chocolate®) in severely claudicant patients
BACKGROUND: To report our experience in treating severely claudicant patients, employing a "nitinol-constrained" balloon (Chocolate, TriReme Medical Inc., Pleasanton, CA-USA) before drug-coated balloon (DCB) in a standardized protocol. METHODS: Eighty-one (84 limbs) consecutive Rutherford category (RC) 3 patients treated between December 2014 and December 2016 for superficial femoral artery (SFA) and popliteal arterial (PA) disease by nitinol-constrained balloon followed by DCB were enrolled. Bailout stenting was performed by Zilver PTX implantation.