Percutaneous femoral artery coronary arteriography. 300 consecutive cases with French 5 catheters

Owing to the ever growing practice of coronary angioplasty, each patient is subjected to multiple examinations and it has become imperative, both for ethical and functional reasons, to reduce the morbidity of coronary arteriography. For this purpose, reduction in the caliber of catheters is a step forward which must be made without altering the procedure and even while making it simpler (shorter stay in bed and in hospital). Between april, 1986 and january, 1987, 300 consecutive coronary arteriographies were performed in a uniform manner and using 5 French catheters in 239 men (mean age 55.4 years) and 61 women (mean age 60.3 years). There were 13 "failures" (4 p. 100) in the sense that the examination was pursued with conventional 7 F or 8 F catheters, or that the brachial route was used. Bilateral femoral puncture was necessary in 6 cases (2 p. 100), and 2 complications (0.7 p. 100) were observed: subacute femoral thrombosis in one case, and regressive cerebral vascular accident in another patient. Thus, it seems permissible and more convenient nowadays to perform all coronary arteriographies with a 5 French catheter. The femoral route can be used in ambulatory patients who get up 4 hours after the procedure.