Dual lumen microcatheters for complex percutaneous coronary interventions

In some bifurcation anatomies side branch wiring can be difficult particularly when side branch is highly angulated. Furthermore a combination of bifurcations and chronic total occlusion can be a real challenge for interventional cardiologists. New devices have been produced to facilitate complex PCI and recently introduced dual lumen microcatheters can be really helpful in these scenarios. All these devices have both a rapid-exchange and an over-the-wire lumen. The rationale for dual lumen microcatheters is to preserve the highest number of side-branches. Nevertheless PCI should always aim to the most complete revascularization and to the lowest rate of side-branch loss. The purpose of this review is to describe current available dual lumen microcatheters, interventional scenarios in which their use may be helpful and basics of their proper use.