Objectives: The transradial approach has been used widely for both diagnostic and interventional coronary procedures. There is no universal consensus on proceeding to the radial access from either the left or the right artery. Most cardiologists have focused solely on using the right radial approach (RRA) and rarely consider the left radial approach. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the two approaches and identified factors associated with failure of the procedure. Methods: This study included 175 patients who underwent diagnostic coronary angiography in Cath Lab of Benha University Hospitals: a left radial approach was used in 90 and a right radial approach in 85. Results: The procedure could not be completed using the initial approach selected in 7 patients (5 right radial vs. 2 left radial; P=0.069). Use of a right radial approach was found to be associated with prolonged fluoroscopy time, procedure duration (P0.05). Non significant increase in contrast volume was associated with RR approach (P = 0.08). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that left radial access is preferable to right radial access in terms of fluoroscopy time , procedure duration and failure using the initial approach for the diagnostic coronary angiography. The import of this study lies in its great shock to the concept of convenient radial access from the right artery. |
