Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) has become an established treatment modality for iliac artery stenosis. PTA of iliac artery occlusions, however, remains a topic of controversy due to difficulties with mechanical recanalization, a lower patency rate and a higher complication rate than obtained after PTA of iliac artery stenosis. During a three year period, we performed 31 PTA's of iliac artery occlusions. The primary recanalization rate was 71% (22 occlusions). Stents were applied in 16 patients. The cumulated patency rates were 95% and 85% after one and six months respectively. There was one late reocclusion after two years. We found a tendency towards inferior patency in the longer occlusions (> or = 5cm). The complication rate was 10% due to three episodes of distal embolisation, all of which were successfully treated immediately with additional PTA and stenting. These results are in accordance with the results of international studies, and suggest that PTA is a useful alternative to surgical treatment of iliac artery occlusions, albeit long occlusions involving both the common and the external iliac artery should be excluded.