title: The VB-1 catheter: an improved catheter for difficult-to-engage internal mammary artery grafts.
abstract: As patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafting age, internal mammary artery grafts are more frequently encountered in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Angiography and interventions involving these grafts are often difficult, particularly in patients with tortuous subclavian anatomy and/or proximal internal mammary artery origins. We describe a new catheter shape, the Cordis Behar Internal Mammary, VB-1, which allows selective intubations of both right and left internal mammary arteries that are not possible with conventional catheters.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Gehrig
authors.forename: Victor S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Behar
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D004867:Equipment Design; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000637:transplantation*; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016896:Treatment Outcome