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Updated: Aug 17, 2025

Interventional Diagnostic Procedure: A Practical Guide for the Assessment of Coronary Vascular Function
Published on: March 15, 2022
Neurointerventional tools and techniques for coronary thrombus removal. A case-based review
Jacek Klaudel1, Wojciech Trenkner1, Krzysztof Pawłowski2
1Department of Invasive Cardiology and Interventional Radiology, St. Adalbert's Hospital, Copernicus Podmiot Leczniczy Sp. z o.o., Gdansk, Poland.
Insights
Neurointerventional catheters offer a novel solution for removing large coronary clots when standard aspiration devices fail. These catheters enabled successful first-pass reperfusion in three complex cases, improving treatment options for myocardial infarction.
Area of Science:
- Interventional Cardiology
- Neurointerventional Radiology
Background:
- Aspiration thrombectomy's role in myocardial infarction is limited due to negative study results, with minimal recent technological progress.
- Mechanical thrombectomy has advanced rapidly in stroke treatment due to the embolic nature of most ischemic events.
Observation:
- Three transradial procedures utilized neurointerventional catheters as a primary tool for en bloc clot removal in distal, tortuous coronary arteries.
- This approach successfully cleared large thrombi in all cases.
Findings:
- First-pass reperfusion was achieved in all three procedures.
- No instances of arterial dissection, distal embolization, or the no-reflow phenomenon were observed.
Implications:
- Neurointerventional catheters can serve as a rescue strategy for large coronary clots unresponsive to standard aspiration devices.
- Their large aspiration lumen, trackability, and atraumatic design enhance safety and efficacy.
- Adopting neurointerventional techniques may significantly improve coronary thrombus aspiration outcomes.
Abstract:
Due to the negative results of randomized aspiration thrombectomy studies, its role in myocardial infarction has been limited to high thrombus burden and/or failed vessel recanalization, with little technological advancement over the last years. In contrast, there has been rapid progress in mechanical thrombectomy in stroke, which is understandable as most ischemic cerebrovascular accidents have an embolic etiology.We present three transradial procedures wherein neurointerventional catheters were used as a first-line device for en bloc removal of large clots lodged distally in tortuous coronary anatomy. First-pass reperfusion was achieved in all the cases, without dissection, distal embolization, or the no reflow phenomenon.
Learning Objective:
In the case of large clots, where coronary aspiration devices fail, neurointerventional catheters may be considered as a rescue strategy. They provide large aspiration lumen and excellent trackability with atraumatic design. Many other neurointerventional techniques can be easily adopted into the coronary armamentarium, possibly increasing the safety and efficacy of thrombus aspiration.
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