Acceptance and safety of femoral versus radial access for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI): results from a large monitor-controlled German registry (QuIK)

Background In 2015 and 2018, European Society of Cardiology guidelines for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) favoring radial access over femoral access were published. These recommendations were based on randomized trials suggesting that patients treated radially experienced reduced bleeding complications and all-cause mortality. We aimed to assess acceptance and results of radial access in a real-world scenario by analyzing all PCI cases in the Quality Assurance in Invasive Cardiology (QuIK) registry. Methods The QuIK registry prospectively collects data on all diagnostic and interventional coronary procedures from 148 private practice cardiology centers in Germany. Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACE) were defined as myocardial infarction, stroke, or death during hospitalization. Results From 2012 to 2018, 189,917 patients underwent PCI via either access method. The rate of radial approach steadily increased from 13 to 49%. The groups did not differ significantly with respect to age or extent of coronary disease. Femoral approach was significantly more common in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock. Overall, there were significant differences in MACE (radial 0.12%; femoral 0.24%; p < 0.0009) and access site complications (radial 0.2%; femoral 0.8% (p < 0.0009). Conclusion Our data reveals an increase in use of radial access in recent years in Germany. The radial approach emerged as favorable regarding MACE in non-myocardial infarction patients, as well as favorable regarding access site complication regardless of indication for percutaneous intervention.

Distal radial access. Occlussion of the radial artery after percutaneus coronary intervention with radial access

In 2015, The European Society of Cardiology for Acute Coronary Syndrome recommended that Class I use radial as the preferred access method for any percutaneous coronary intervention regardless of clinical presentation. However, the use of TRA is associated with some complications: radiation artery occlusion (RAO) (The reported incidence of RAO is highly variable in the range of 2-11%, radial arterial spasm, radial arterial perforation, radial artery pseudoaneurysm, arteriovenous fistula, bleeding, nerve damage, and complex regional pain syndrome. Limited data are available regarding the technique of distal radial access, complications, and potential benefits. The purpose of our study is to compare the incidence of radial artery occlusion between distal radial and conventional radial access. The study included 292 patients (who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention)in who is felt pulsations at the site of a puncture of the radial artery. Patients were followed one month after the procedure, with Doppler ultrasonography or access from the same artery. After a month, the occlusion of the radial artery occurred in 8 (5.7%) patients in conventional radial access, there was no occlusion of the radial artery in the distal radial access group. This investigation shows that distal radial access is associated with a lower incidence of occlusion of the radial artery.

Bivalirudin Versus Heparin Monotherapy in ST-Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background: Bivalirudin was not superior to unfractionated heparin in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention and no planned use of GPI (glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors) in contemporary clinical practice of radial access and potent P2Y 12 -inhibitors in the VALIDATE-SWEDEHEART randomized clinical trial (Bivalirudin Versus Heparin in STEMI and NSTEMI Patients on Modern Antiplatelet Therapy–Swedish Web-System for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-Based Care in Heart Disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies Registry). Methods: In this prespecified separately powered subgroup analysis, we included patients with ST-segment–elevation MI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention with the primary composite end point of all-cause death, MI, or major bleeding event within 180 days. Results: Among the 6006 patients enrolled in the trial, 3005 patients with ST-segment–elevation MI were randomized to receive bivalirudin or heparin. The mean age was 66.8 years. According to protocol recommendations, 87% were treated with potent oral P2Y 12 -inhibitors before start of angiography and radial access was used in 90%. GPI was used in 51 (3.4%) and 74 (4.9%) of patients randomized to receive bivalirudin and heparin, respectively. The primary end point occurred in 12.5% (187 of 1501) and 13.0% (196 of 1504; hazard ratio [HR], 0.95 [95% CI, 0.78–1.17], P =0.64) with consistent results in all major subgroups. All-cause death occurred in 3.9% versus 3.9% (HR, 1.00 [0.70–1.45], P =0.98), MI in 1.7% versus 2.2% (HR, 0.76 [0.45–1.28], P =0.30), major bleeding in 8.3% versus 8.0% (HR, 1.04 [0.81–1.33], P =0.78), and definite stent thrombosis in 0.5% versus 1.3% (HR, 0.42 [0.18–0.96], P =0.04). Conclusions: In patients with ST-segment–elevation MI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention with radial access and receiving current recommended treatments with potent P2Y 12 -inhibitors rate of the composite of all-cause death, MI, or major bleeding was not lower in those randomized to receive bivalirudin as compared with heparin. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT02311231.

494 Glycoprotein IIB/IIIA inhibitors may modulate the clinical benefit of radial access as compared to femoral access in primary percutaneous coronary intervention: a meta-regression and a meta-analysis of randomized trials

Aims Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) consistently reported better clinical outcomes with radial as compared to femoral access for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Nevertheless, heterogeneous use of potent antiplatelet drugs, such as Gp IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPI), across different studies could have biased the results in favour of radial access. We performed an updated meta-analysis and meta-regression of RCTs in order to appraise whether the use of GPI had an impact on pooled estimates of clinical outcomes according to vascular access. Methods and results We computed pooled estimates by the random effects model for the following outcomes: mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and target vessel revascularization), and major bleedings. Additionally, we performed meta-regression analysis to investigate the impact of GPI use on pooled estimates of clinical outcomes. We analysed 14 randomized controlled trials and 11 090 patients who were treated by radial (5497) and femoral access (5593), respectively. Radial access was associated with better outcomes for mortality [risk difference 0.01 (0.00, 0.01), P = 0.03], MACE [risk difference 0.01 (0.00, 0.02), P = 0.003], and major bleedings [risk difference 0.01 (0.00, 0.02), P = 0.02]. At meta-regression, we observed a significant correlation of mortality with both GPI use (P = 0.011) and year of publication (P = 0.0073), whereas no correlation was observed with major bleedings. Conclusions In this meta-analysis, the use of radial access for primary PCI was associated with better clinical outcomes as compared to femoral access. However, the effect size on mortality was modulated by GPI rate, with greater benefit of radial access in studies with larger use of these drugs.

Trans-radial percutaneous intervention for thrombosed hemodialysis access: A single-center experience

Background: Traditionally, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is a first-line approach for stenosed dialysis accesses and has been performed through the non-thrombosed vein segment. For thrombosed accesses, thrombectomy (whether open or percutaneous) is a standard approach. The primary objective of our study is to determine the clinical and technical outcomes of the trans-radial approach of PTA among thrombosed dialysis accesses, in terms of safety and feasibility, technical and clinical aspects and factors influencing them, as well as assisted primary patency, secondary patency at 6 and 12 months. Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study that included 150 patients over 3 years. About 123 patients underwent successful percutaneous balloon angioplasty through the radial access. Results: We report an overall technical and clinical success rate of 82%, assisted primary patency rate of about 90.25% at 3 months, 82.93% at 6 months, 73.18% at 1 year, and secondary patency rate of 94% at 1 year. Twenty-seven patients were referred for surgical revisions/creation of a new fistula for reasons like inability to pass wire (6 patients), unfavorable anatomical variations like aneurysms at the proximal segments (5 patients), inability to cross the fistula (5 patients), and persistent fistula dysfunction with no flow after initial balloon dilatation (11 patients). Three patients had hematoma at the radial access site (2.5%) while two patients had the AV fistula segment rupture and were successfully treated conservatively. Conclusion: We conclude that PTA through the trans-radial approach to completely thrombosed hemodialysis accesses is a good alternative to transvenous access and has a very good assisted primary patency and secondary patency at 1 year without major complications.

Is myocardial bridge more frequently detected on radial access coronary angiography?

Background Although the incidence of myocardial bridge (MB) has been defined in different femoral access conventional coronary angiography (FACCA) studies, the frequency of MB on radial access coronary angiography (RACA) is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the difference in the incidence of MB between patients undergoing RACA and FACCA. Method A total of 2500 consecutive patients who underwent RACA and a total of 1455 consecutive patients who underwent FACCA were retrospectively investigated to detect the presence of MB. The incidences of the groups were calculated separately and compared. The clinical and angiographic features of the patients with MB were analyzed. Results MB was detected at an incidence of 10.2%, in 255/2500 patients who underwent RACA, and 1.8% in 27/1455 patients who underwent FACCA (p < 0.001). In both RACA and FACCA patients, the most involved coronary artery was the left anterior descending artery (LAD) (86.9% and 93.1%) and the mid-segment (84.9% and 88.9%) was the most affected section. Co-involvement of multiple coronary arteries by MB was 7.8% in patients who underwent RACA and 7.4% in patients who underwent FACCA. Coronary artery disease (CAD) was determined in 111 (35.7%) of the coronary arteries with MB, of which 81.9% were proximal to the MB. No significant CAD was detected in any of the vessels of 69.8% (178/255) of the patients who underwent RACA for different clinical indications. Conclusion These data demonstrated that the incidence of myocardial bridge able to be detected on RACA was much higher than FACCA.