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Successful percutaneous removal of retained broken coronary angioplasty guidewire
Catheterization and Cardiovascular Diagnosis
|January 1, 1986
Insights
A novel technique successfully retrieved an entrapped coronary angioplasty guidewire using a pigtail catheter. This method offers a solution for complex guidewire retrieval in coronary interventions.
Area of Science:
- Interventional Cardiology
- Medical Device Technology
Background:
- Coronary angioplasty guidewires can become entrapped in small arteries.
- Guidewire fracture during intervention poses significant retrieval challenges.
Observation:
- A coronary angioplasty guidewire fractured, with its proximal end lodged in the descending thoracic aorta.
- The distal end remained entrapped within a small coronary artery.
Findings:
- A pigtail left ventriculography catheter was utilized for guidewire retrieval.
- The catheter was advanced to the ascending aorta and manipulated to wind the fractured guidewire around it.
- This technique successfully extracted the guidewire from the coronary artery.
Implications:
- This method provides a viable strategy for managing fractured guidewires during coronary interventions.
- It may reduce the need for more invasive procedures in complex retrieval cases.
- Highlights the versatility of pigtail catheters in interventional cardiology.
Abstract:
The use of a pigtail left ventriculography catheter to retrieve a coronary angioplasty guidewire that had become entrapped in a small coronary artery and broken off with the proximal end in the descending thoracic aorta is reported. A pigtail catheter was advanced to the ascending aorta and twirled, winding the wire around it, removing the wire from the small artery.