title: A simple method preventing tangling of the guidewires during percutaneous coronary intervention for bifurcation lesions.
abstract: The aim was to examine the efficacy of the simple technique that reduces tangling of the guidewires by utilizing wet gauze during percutaneous coronary intervention with multiple guidewires. We defined "Critical tangle of the guidewires" as occurring when it became impossible to insert balloon catheters into the bifurcation lesion due to tangling of the guidewires without withdrawing and reinserting one of the guidewires. We compared the rate of the critical tangle of the guidewires between the group taking no special tangle precaution ("NP Group"), and the group taking the tangle precaution with the wet gauze ("Gauze Group"). Eighty-four patients were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to either NP Group (n = 43) or Gauze Group (n = 41). The kissing balloon technique success was 42/43 (97.7%) versus 40/41 (97.6%), in NP Group and Gauze Group, respectively. The rate of critical tangle of the guidewires was significantly lower in Gauze Group (27.9 vs. 7.3%, p = 0.014). The manipulation of several guidewires utilizing gauze method will be a useful technique for reducing tangle of the guidewires during the procedure of kissing balloon technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa, 259-1193, Japan, nmasuda@is.icc.u-tokai.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morino
authors.forename: Toshiharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.forename: Gaku
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nakazawa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsukage
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikari