IMR Press / RCM / Volume 21 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm.2020.04.252
Open Access News and Views
Strategies to overcome challenges of transradial coronary angiography and intervention
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1 Interventional Cardiology Fellow, Rambam Medical Center, 3109601, Haifa, Israel
2 Director of Invasive Cardiology Unit, Rambam Medical Center, 3109601, Haifa, Israel
3 Interventional Cardiologist, Rambam Medical Center, 3109601, Haifa, Israel
4 Director of Clinical Research in Invasive Cardiology, Rambam Medical Center, 3109601, Haifa, Israel
5 Head of Cardiology Department, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, 38100, Hadera, Israel
*Correspondence: kyriacospap@hotmail.com (Kyriacos Papadopoulos)
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2020, 21(4), 501–505; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm.2020.04.252
Submitted: 19 November 2020 | Accepted: 25 November 2020 | Published: 30 December 2020
Copyright: © 2020 Papadopoulos et al. Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

The transradial approach has become the preferred route for performing coronary angiography and interventions. Several studies reported that radial access is associated with significant reduction in vascular complications compared with the femoral access. This technique allows also early ambulation, improves the patient’s well-being, and is less expensive. One important limitation of radial access is that coronary engagement from transradial approach is more challenging than transfemoral approach. The increased susceptibility of the radial artery to spasm, the radial-brachial artery tortuosities, and the subclavian-aorta curves make catheter advancement and coronary artery cannulation difficult. Hereby, we suggest several techniques for recognising and overcoming potential challenges during transradial coronary angiography.

Keywords
Cardiac catheterization
radial artery
coronary arteries
cardiac catheters
Figures
Fig. 1.
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