Methods
We randomized 200 consecutive patients referred for elective coronary angiography to 4-French vs. 6-French guiding catheters with power injection. The study’s primary outcome was the quality of coronary angiogram established by two independent investigators blinded to the group assignments, and the rate of vascular complications. Thirty-six patients underwent ad hoc PCI and were excluded from the analysis.
Methods
We randomized 200 consecutive patients referred for elective coronary angiography to 4-French vs. 6-French guiding catheters with power injection. The study’s primary outcome was the quality of coronary angiogram established by two independent investigators blinded to the group assignments, and the rate of vascular complications. Thirty-six patients underwent ad hoc PCI and were excluded from the analysis.
Results
The study groups included 4 French=80 patients and 6 French=84 patients. The groups had similar demographic and clinical characteristics. The quality of the angiograms was similar between the groups ( Fig. 1 ). However, more left coronary sinus flush (3.57±1.1 vs. 2.98±0.9, P <.001) and lower closure device use (25% vs. 71.4%, P <.01) were observed with the 4- vs. 6-French catheters, respectively. The procedure duration, volume of contrast used, vascular complications rates and time to ambulation were not different between groups (all P >.05) ( Fig. 1 ).
