Percutaneous transradial coronary angiography and angioplasty in patients with occlusive atherosclerotic iliofemoral disease

Not all coronary angiograms can be acquired through the femoral route. The transradial catheterisation procedure in patients with occlusive atherosclerotic iliofemoral disease is described. Transfemoral left-sided cardiac catheterisation was performed in approximately 99.5% of patients referred for coronary angiography, while out of 48 patients in whom transfemoral access was impossible, transradial coronary angiography was successful in 37. With the exception of one, all patients with coronary artery disease had lesions of the right coronary artery, more than 70% had multivessel disease and 14% had stenosis of the left main coronary artery. Ten patients had angioplasty performed during the same procedure. Complications occurred in 5 out of 39 cases, 2 (5%) of these were severe. Although the femoral route was used in more than 99% of an unselected population referred for coronary angiography, it was found that transradial angiography and angioplasty can be performed in patients with occlusive atherosclerotic iliofemoral disease with considerable success and an acceptable complication rate.