Short Communication

A practical tip to engage the left main coronary artery in patients presenting with aortic aneurysms

10.1016/j.ijcac.2017.10.001

  • Kudret Keskin
  • Serhat Sığırcı
  • Süleyman Sezai Yıldız
  • Gökhan Çetinkal
  • Kadriye Kılıçkesmez

Received Date: 23.09.2017 Accepted Date: 10.10.2017 IJCVA 2017;3(3):62-63

Coronary angiography in patients presentingwith ascending aortic aneurysms can be challenging since standard cathetersmay fail to reach the leftmain coronary artery. Awidely accepted approach is themother-in-child catheter technique whereby a catheter with a smaller diameter is telescoped through one with a bigger diameter, a procedure that helps to lengthen the catheter. However, this technique is associated with several disadvantages such as thrombus formation within the catheters, inadvertent damage to the left main ostium, and the necessity of manipulation,which the operatormay not be familiarwith. Therefore, in our casewe present amethod,which involves the application of a regular Judkins Right 4 catheter for left main engagement. We propose that this method can be safely attempted prior to using telescoping techniques.

Keywords: Coronary angiography Aortic dilatation Cardiac catheterization