## 3 Results
### Lesion and Procedural Characteristics  
Lesion characteristics are listed in Table 2. The mean lesion length was 211 \(\pm\) 85.2. Out of the 62 lesions, 50 (80.6%) were de novo, whereas the remaining 12 (19.4%) comprised the following: 10 (16.2%) were restenosis of the native vessel, and 2 (3.2%) were in-stent restenosis. Half of the lesions had chronic total occlusion; furthermore, 54.8% of the lesions had a calcification degree of at least moderate. In four patients, a significant in-flow disease of the iliac artery, ipsilateral to the target limb, was treated successfully before approaching the femoro-popiletal target lesion at the time of the index procedure. All target lesions (TLs) underwent balloon pre-dilatation by a balloon 0.5-1 mm undersized compared to the reference vessel diameter (RVD). Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) were used in 60 cases (96.8%), while primary stenting was used in 2 cases.  
Table 3 depicts the differences between the group of patients with lesions who underwent PTA optimization and those who did not. The TL optimization group showed a greater lesion length (244 \(\pm\) 62.2 vs. 194 \(\pm\) 73.1; \(p\) < 0.01), a higher proportion of total occlusion (71% vs. 39%; \(p\) < 0.01), and a higher proportion of TASC C lesions (81% vs. 61%; \(p\) < 0.01); conversely, TLs that did not require optimization were less likely non-calc  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c} \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Population: \(N\) = 62**} \\ \hline Age & 69 \(\pm\) 8.1 \\ \hline Men & 46 (74.2) \\ \hline Hypertension & 48 (77.4) \\ \hline Hyperlipemia & 50 (80.6) \\ \hline Diabetes mellitus & 32 (51.6) \\ \hline Current smoking & 37 (59.6) \\ \hline Renal failure & 8 (12.9) \\ \hline Coronary artery disease & 23 (37.1) \\ \hline Previous peripheral revascularization & 25 (40.3) \\ \hline Rutherford Classification & \\ \hline Category & Grade \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{0} & 0 \\ \cline{2-3}  & 1 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{I} & 2 \\ \cline{2-3}  & 3 \\ \hline II & 4 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{III} & 5 \\ \cline{2-3}  & 6 \\ \hline \end{tabular} Values are shown as mean \(\pm\) SD or (n) %.  
\end{table}
Table 1: Baseline clinical characteristics.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c} \hline Lesions & 62 \\ \hline Length (mm) & 211 \(\pm\) 85.2 \\ \hline Diameter stenosis (\%) & 93.1 \(\pm\) 7.3 \\ \hline Reference vessel diameter (mm) & 5.3 \(\pm\) 0.8 \\ \hline De novo & 50 (80.6) \\ \hline Native vessel restenosis & 10 (16) \\ \hline In stent restenosis & 2 (3.2) \\ \hline Total occlusion & 31 (50) \\ \hline TASC classification & \\ \hline Type A & 0 \\ \hline Type B & 11 (18) \\ \hline Type C & 43 (69) \\ \hline Type D & 9 (13) \\ \hline Calcification degree & \\ \hline None or slight & 27 (44) \\ \hline Moderate & 25 (40) \\ \hline Severe & 10 (16) \\ \hline Inflow disease & 4 (6.4) \\ \hline Outflow disease & 8 (12.9) \\ \hline Procedural details & \\ \hline Lesion pre-dilatation & 62 (100) \\ \hline Lesion post-dilatation & 37 (59.6) \\ \hline DEB & 60 (96.8) \\ \hline Primary stenting & 2 (3.2) \\ \hline Intraoperative duplex scan assessment & 62 \\ \hline Intermediate residual stenosis & 48 (77.4) \\ \hline Grade C dissection & 14 (22.6) \\ \hline Functional assessment of residual stenosis & \\ \hline PSVR \textgreater{} 2.4 m/s & 16 (25.8) \\ \hline PSVR \textless{} 2.4 m/s & 32 (51.6) \\ \hline Functional assessment of dissection & \\ \hline Abnormal spectral flow within and distal & 5 (6.4) \\ to dissection & \\ \hline Normal spectral flow within and distal to & 9 (14.5) \\ dissection & \\ \hline Lesions requiring optimization & 21 (33.9) \\ \hline Treatment for optimization & \\ \hline Stenting & 9 (14.5) \\ \hline Post-dilatation & 12 (19.4) \\ \hline Residual diameter stenosis (\textless{}30\%) & 59 (95.2) \\ \hline Integrated technical success & 59 (95.2) \\ \hline Bailout stenting & 14 (22.6) \\ \hline For flow-limiting dissection & 6 (9.7) \\ \hline For persistent residual stenosis & 8 (12.9) \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: Lesions and procedural characteristics.