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Radial Artery Occlusion After Transradial Approach to Cardiac Catheterization

  • Coronary Heart Disease (E Gianos and B Shah, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Radial artery occlusion (RAO) is the most common complication of the transradial approach (TRA) to cardiac catheterization, with a reported incidence between 0.8 % and 30 %. RAO is likely the result of acute thrombus formation and complicated by neointimal hyperplasia. Most RAO are asymptomatic with rare cases of acute hand or digit ischemia reported in the literature. The role of testing for dual circulation to the hand in determining the safety of TRA as it relates to symptomatic RAO is controversial; however, modifiable risk factors like low sheath-to-artery ratio, adequate anticoagulation, and non-occlusive (“patent”) hemostasis are likely to prevent RAO. This review examines the incidence of RAO, potential mechanisms leading to RAO, and strategies to prevent and treat RAO.

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Acknowledgments

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John F. Wagener declares that they have no conflict of interest.

Sunil V. Rao received personal fees from Terumo Medical.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. Duke University Medical Center, 1828 Country Lane, Durham, NC, 27713, USA

    John F. Wagener

  2. The Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, NC, USA

    Sunil V. Rao

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Correspondence to John F. Wagener.

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Wagener, J.F., Rao, S.V. Radial Artery Occlusion After Transradial Approach to Cardiac Catheterization. Curr Atheroscler Rep 17, 9 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-015-0489-6

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