An improved snare system for the nonsurgical retrieval of intravascular foreign bodies.
We have modified a snare technique originally described for transcolonoscopic removal of colonic polyps for the retrieval of intravascular foreign bodies. The key difference from other snare techniques is the employment of a wire snare with a crimp in its midportion that enables the formation of a loop in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the guiding catheter. With this technique we have quickly removed a variety of objects from the right heart and pulmonary arteries in four patients.
D001808:Blood Vessels; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans