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Presentation on Transradial Angioplasty at 8th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics

December 3, 2008 / Kyoto, Japan -- The use of the radial or wrist artery for angioplasty is practiced around the world. In Japan, the procedure was introduced by Dr. Shigeru Saito, but one of the countries with the highest adoption of radial angioplasty is France.

Dr. Thierry Lefevre
Dr. Thierry Lefevre
   

So, at this year's 8th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics, held in Kyoto from November 23-25, world-renown French cardiologist Dr. Thierry Lefevre, Head of the Interventional Cardiology Department and Research at the Institut Cardiovasculaire Paris Sud at Institut Hospitalier Jacques Cartier in Massy, France, addressed the conference.

Dr. Lefevre presented a comprehensive overview of radial angioplasty, not just from the French experience, but worldwide -- complete with calculations of cost-effectiveness, reports of lower complications, safety, and indications of patient comfort. A PDF of that presentation is available on Angioplasty.Org.


The transradial procedure for diagnostic catheterization was first described In the late 1980's by a French-Canadian physician, Dr. Lucien Campeau.

By 1992 a group in Amsterdam, headed by Dr. Ferdinand Kiemeneij, had begun exploring ways to use the radial artery for interventional procedures, such as delivering balloons and stents. They were somewhat limited by the early equipment, but as catheters and stents became lower profile, thinner and easier to manipulate, the ability of physicians to use the radial artery increased.

This chart shows the rapid adoption of the radial technique in France, following the first Transradial Workshop, held in 1997.

    % of radial angioplasty in France 1992-2007
Growth of Radial Access in France 1992-2007

 

Reported by Burt Cohen, December 3, 2008