Transluminal angioplasty in the treatment of mesenteric vein graft stenosis.

We present 2 patients with chronic mesenteric ischemia who were successfully treated by mesenteric bypass grafts which then became stenosed and occluded. Patency was restored by percutaneous transluminal dilatation of the stenoses. Chronic mesenteric ischemia affects a population who are at high risk for surgical procedures, and second operations following occlusion of mesenteric grafts appear to carry an increased risk of both morbidity and mortality. We therefore suggest that transluminal angioplasty may prove a valuable form of treatment in these cases.