Performance of single reshaped Judkins left catheter for transradial coronary angiography

Background: To investigate the feasibility of single reshaped Judkins left catheter for transradial coronary angiography. Methods: A total of 198 consecutive patients were enrolled in the first step study. Patients were randomly assigned to brachial type catheter group (BRACT group) or Judkins left catheter group (Judkins group). The inclusion criterion was the left coronary angiography which could be accomplished by either a brachial type catheter or a reshaped Judkins left catheter. The successful procedure was defined as both right and left coronary angiography could be completed with a single reshaped Judkins left catheter or a brachial type catheter. Furthermore, 1873 consecutive patients were continuously enrolled to observe the success rate of single Judkins left catheter for transradial coronary angiography. Results: Of the 198 patients, 191 were finally enrolled in this study according to the inclusion criteria, with 95 patients in BRACT group and 96 in Judkins group. There were no significant differences on baseline between the two groups. Procedure success rate was 84.10% with a fluoroscopic exposure time of 3.81 ± 0.43 min in BRA-CT group, and 81.60% with a fluoroscopic exposure time of 4.05 ± 0.48 min in Judkins group (P > 0.05). No severe complications were found in either of the two groups. The success rates of 1869 patients with single Judkins left catheter for transradial coronary angiography were 75.33%. There were no complications in those patients. Conclusions: Transradial coronary angiography with a reshaped single Judkins left catheter is feasible and practical, with an accepted procedure success rate. This method should be worthy of further clinical validation in a larger scale population.