Upper extremity transvenous access for neuroendovascular procedures: an international multicenter case series

Radial artery access for transarterial procedures has gained recent traction in neurointerventional due to decreased patient morbidity, technical feasibility, and improved patient satisfaction. Upper extremity transvenous access (UETV) has recently emerged as an alternative strategy for the neurointerventionalist, but data are limited. Our objective was to quantify the use of UETV access in neurointerventions and to measure failure and complication rates.

An international multicenter retrospective review of medical records for patients undergoing UETV neurointerventions or diagnostic procedures was performed. We also present our institutional protocol for obtaining UETV and review the existing literature.

One hundred and thirteen patients underwent a total of 147 attempted UETV procedures at 13 centers. The most common site of entry was the right basilic vein. There were 21 repeat puncture events into the same vein following the primary diagnostic procedure for secondary interventional procedures without difficulty. There were two minor complications (1.4%) and five failures (ie, conversion to femoral vein access) (3.4%).

UETV is safe and technically feasible for diagnostic and neurointerventional procedures. Further studies are needed to determine the benefit over alternative venous access sites and the effect on patient satisfaction.