[Diagnostic and interventional heart catheterization through the radial artery]

Diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization using the femoral approach demands hospitalization for more than 24 hours, and occasionally it is complicated by vascular events. This paper informs about out first 95 catheterizations using the radial percutaneous approach. We describe the technique, duration, length of hospitalization and complications. Eighty three male and 12 female patients, aged 54 +/- 12 years were included, 87 of them with coronary heart disease. There were 71 diagnostic procedures, 11 PTCA and 13 elective stenting. The initial success rate was 63% that reached 97% after three months. The mean duration was 46' for diagnostic procedures, 51' for PTCAs and 87' for stenting. Hospitalization length was 5, 31 and 39 hours respectively. Three patients lost the radial pulse, without distal ischemia. Pain was noticed in 16% of the cases. There were not other vascular complications. It is concluded that the percutaneous radial artery approach allows diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, with lesser hospitalization lengths and few vascular complications.