title: Left internal mammary angiography complicated by subclavian tortuosity: a technical note.
abstract: Current elective bypass procedures frequently involve placement of a left internal mammary artery (LIMA). Accordingly, there is an increased need to prove either preoperative adequacy or postoperative patency of this graft. We report a patient with a tortuous left subclavian artery inaccessible for any standard catheterization technique for LIMA opacification. The problem was overcome by a CHOICE PT guidewire whose trackability permitted the passage through the subclavian kinking and, subsequently, to coaxially advance a multipurpose catheter to the entrance of the LIMA. The described setting may be helpful for diagnostic LIMA imaging in selected cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Skowasch
authors.forename: Berndt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lüderitz
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bauriedel
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D013348:Subclavian Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*