title: Hugging balloons: coronary angioplasty of oversized vessels with side-by-side balloons.
abstract: Angioplasty of large (greater than 4.0-mm) saphenous vein grafts using the largest available (4.0-mm) balloon catheters may result in inadequate graft dilatation. To avoid leaving a significant residual stenosis, two balloon catheters can be inflated side by side across the stenosis. Herein, we report two cases where this "hugging balloon" technique was used to achieve wide graft patency.
authors.affiliation: Mid America Heart Institute, St. Luke's Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Teirstein
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.forename: G O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Hartzler
mesh_terms: D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000379:methods*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation