Safety and Efficacy of the StarClose Vascular Closure Device in More Than 1000 Consecutive Peripheral Angioplasty Procedures

PurposeTo present a large singlecenter retrospective study investigating the safety and efficacy of the StarClose extravascular closure device in achieving hemostasis after antegrade or retrograde femoral artery catheterization during peripheral angioplasty procedures. MethodsBetween January 2004 and October 2009, 1213 StarClose devices were implanted in 850 consecutive patients (598 men; mean age 65.8±12.2 years) who underwent peripheral endovascular procedures. Femoral artery punctures included 625 (51.5%) retrograde and 588 (48.5%) antegrade accesses. The primary endpoints were hemostasis success, device failure, and major and minor complication rates up to 30 days. ResultsA 6-F vascular sheath was used in the majority of cases [39 (3.2%) 7-F and 9 (0.7%) 8-F]. The device was applied more than once in the same femoral artery of 124 (10.2%) limbs during different angioplasty sessions. Overall hemostasis success was achieved in 1139 (93.9%) cases. In 237 (20.8%) of those, additional manual compression for <5 minutes was necessary due to immediate vessel oozing. The remaining 74 (6.1%) cases required prolonged standard manual compression because of hemostasis failure, including 13 (1.1%) failures to deliver the clip. Overall major and minor complication rates were 0.3% (4/1213) and 5.3% (64/1213), respectively. ConclusionThe StarClose vascular closure device is safe and effective in achieving hemostasis during antegrade and retrograde peripheral angioplasty procedures.