Improved stability and visualization during coronary artery angioplasty using a double catheter technique.

Abstract

Guiding catheters used in coronary angioplasty can make coronary angioplasty potentially hazardous when they become positionally unstable, induce myocardial ischemia, or impair angiographic visualization. In order to avoid this problem, a double catheter technique was employed in seven patients involving nine procedures consisting of a standard 8 or 9 French angioplasty guiding catheter and a standard 7 French angiographic catheter to prevent coronary flow reduction and to permit improved coronary artery visualization. In two of the procedures, the second diagnostic catheter also permitted the prevention of potential plaque disruption by the guide catheter in the proximal right coronary artery. The predilatation stenosis was 88 +/- 12%; the postdilatation stenosis was 28 +/- 9%. The use of the diagnostic catheter as a second catheter prevented damping and permitted the stable disengagement of the guiding catheter from the coronary artery. This technique is most useful in patients who have proximal right coronary artery stenoses because it provides optimal visualization of the segment undergoing dilatation, avoids the potential for ischemia in more distal stenoses, and thereby allows the procedure to be performed in a controlled, unhurried manner.