Selective coronary arteriography by percutaneous transaxillary approach.

Coronary angiography by the percutaneous femoral approach is widely used. This technique is potentially dangerous or impossible in patients with advanced arterial disease of the lower limbs, whether or not surgically treated. In these cases, percutaneous left or right axillary approach is an alternative to brachial approach. In this article, we report our multicenter experience involving 120 patients. The left axillary artery was used in 94 cases (78%) and the right in 26 cases (22%). We used performed coronary catheters usually associated with the femoral approach. The left axillary artery was used preferentially since this avoids catheterization of the innominated trunk and allows easier catheterization of the coronary ostia and aortic ends of aorto-coronary bypass grafts. The routine use of a sheath (arterial introducer) avoided arterial compression during catheterization, prevented hemorrhagic suffusion when the catheters were exchanged, and reduced the risk of thrombosis or laceration of the axillary artery. There were no failures in the catheterization of the axillary artery and no complication was observed during or after the procedure. Axillary percutaneous technique appears to have the following advantages over the brachial arteriotomy: 1) Investigation time is equivalent to the time needed for the femoral percutaneous approach. 2) There is the possibility of lateral and simultaneous bi-plane angiograms. 3) Arterial puncture is preferable to arteriotomy. The axillary approach could also be used for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.