A new lack of twist for the Judkins left coronary catheter

We have developed a modified Judkins left coronary arteriography catheter. The catheter is fabricated from 7 French thin-walled tubing made of extruded polyethylene. This tubing has a larger lumen diameter than either the 7 French or 8 French torque-control tubings used for standard Judkins coronary arteriography catheters. The large lumen substantially improves the pressure-flow characteristics of the catheter. Accordingly, it is considerably easier to inject contrast medium through this tubing. Although this tubing has no torsional rigidity, the lack of torque-control has proved to be an advantage rather than a detriment in the use of the catheter. Based on experience of over 2,000 studies with this catheter, we feel that it is superior to standard torque-control catheters for left coronary angiograms.