MONDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- The success and difficulty of transradial coronary angiography are similar for both right and left radial artery approaches, according to research published in the Jan. 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.
Yumiko Kanei, M.D., of the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a prospective, randomized study of 193 patients undergoing transradial cardiac catheterization between June and August 2009. They compared the difficulties that arose while accessing the left and right radial routes.
The researchers found that 98 of the 101 procedures (98 percent) done using the right radial approach were performed successfully, as were 91 of the 92 procedures (99 percent) done using the left radial approach. Contrast use, fluoroscopy time, and nonselective injection were similar in the two groups. Both the right and left approaches used hydrophilic or coronary wire to overcome tortuosity, and stiff wire to engage the coronary arteries at similar rates. The use of only one catheter was 73 percent in the right radial group, as opposed to 18 percent in the left radial group. There were three access-site hematomas and one perforation of the radial artery, none of which required surgical intervention, in the left radial group. No patients suffered any adverse cardiac events.
"The right and left radial approaches are feasible and effective to perform coronary angiography and intervention," the authors write.
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