A NEW AVENUE TO TREAT HEART DISEASE: Although the majority of angioplasties are performed through the femoral artery in the groin (upper leg), a newer way to perform angioplasties uses the wrist as an entryway. Although fewer than 5 percent of angioplasties are performed this way, several recent studies suggest it's a safer alternative to the traditional procedure. In one Duke study, researchers analyzed more than 500,000 angioplasty procedures in a national registry. They compared success rates, bleeding complications and vascular complications between angioplasties performed through the wrist and the groin. Results show 1.32 percent of the procedures were performed through the wrist, but the risk of bleeding complications in the wrist method was nearly 60 percent lower than in the traditional method -- 2 percent of patients treated through the groin had complications while fewer than 1 percent of those treated through the wrist did. The difference in risk was greatest in patients under 75 years old, women, and patients undergoing PCI for acute coronary syndrome. Success rates for the two procedures were similar. A more recent study that analyzed 5,000 angioplasties at Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Miami, Fla., found only 0.3 percent of patients who underwent wrist angioplasty experienced bleeding complications.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Sanjay Patel, M.D.
(281) 297-7648
http://www.memorialhermann.org
