Arterial access site utilization in cardiogenic shock in the United Kingdom: is radial access feasible?

in American heart journal (2014), 167(6), 900-81

BACKGROUND: Cardiogenic shock (CS) remains the leading cause of mortality in patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The transradial access site (TRA) has become increasingly adopted ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Cardiogenic shock (CS) remains the leading cause of mortality in patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The transradial access site (TRA) has become increasingly adopted as a default access site for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); however, even in experienced centers that favor the radial artery as the primary access site during PCI, patients presenting in CS are often treated via the transfemoral access site (TFA); and commentators have suggested that CS remains the final frontier that has given even experienced radial operators pause. We studied the use of TRA in patients presenting in CS in a nonselected high-risk cohort from the British Cardiovascular Intervention database over a 7-year period (2006-2012). METHODS: Mortality (30-day) and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (a composite of in-hospital mortality, in-hospital myocardial reinfarction, target vessel revascularization, and cerebrovascular events) were studied based on TFA and TRA utilization in CS patients. The influence of access site selection was studied in 7,231 CS patients; TFA was used in 5,354 and TRA in 1,877 patients. RESULTS: Transradial access site was independently associated with a lower 30-day mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.56, 95% CI 0.46-0.69, P = 0 < .001), in-hospital major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.53-0.76, P < .0001) and major bleeding (HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.18-0.73, P = .004). CONCLUSIONS: Although the majority of PCI cases performed in patients with cardiogenic shock in the United Kingdom are performed through the TFA, the radial artery represents an alternative viable access site in this high-risk cohort of patients in experienced centers. [less ▲]

Influence of access site selection on PCI-related adverse events in patients with STEMI: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

in Heart (2012), 98(4), 303-11

OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis of all randomised controlled studies that compare outcomes of transradial versus the transfemoral route to better define best practice in patients with ST elevation myocardial ... [more ▼]

OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis of all randomised controlled studies that compare outcomes of transradial versus the transfemoral route to better define best practice in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). DESIGN: A Medline and Embase search was conducted using the search terms 'transradial,' 'radial', 'STEMI', 'myocardial' and 'infarction'. SETTING: Randomised controlled studies that compare outcomes of transradial versus the transfemoral route. PATIENTS: A total of nine studies were identified that consisted of 2977 patients with STEMI. Interventions Studies that compare outcomes of transradial versus the transfemoral route. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary clinical outcomes of interest were (1) mortality; (2) major adverse cardiac events (MACE); (3) major bleeding and (4) access site complications. RESULTS: Transradial PCI was associated with a reduction in mortality (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.84; p=0.008), MACE (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.90; p=0.012), major bleeding events (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.35-1.12; p=0.12) and access site complications (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.48; p<0.0001) compared with procedures performed through the femoral route. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis demonstrates a significant reduction in mortality, MACE and major access site complications associated with the transradial access site in STEMI. The meta-analysis supports the preferential use of radial access for STEMI PCI. [less ▲]