November 8, 2011
SRO Times 5 for Transradial Symposium at TCT2011
Today I saw hard statistical evidence that the transradial approach is growing exponentially in the U.S. The audience for the TCT half day symposium was five times larger than two years ago. (Read more...)

September 22, 2011
Advanced Transradial Angioplasty Training Course from Duke Clinical Research Institute
On October 20-21, the Duke Clinical Research Institute, in conjunction with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and SCAI, will present the "Duke Advanced Course in Transradial Angiography and Intervention", one of the first advanced courses in this new and growing technique to be offered in the United States. (Read more...)

September 8, 2011
Transradial Angioplasty Training in Las Vegas
This weekend Richard R. Heuser, MD, FSCAI and John E. Lassetter, MD, FSCAI of St. Luke's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona will be conducting a one-day course in transradial (wrist) angioplasty at the Wynn/Encore Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. But the games of chance will be relegated to the casinos because, as Dr. Heuser recounts in his exclusive interview with Angioplasty.Org, the wrist approach to diagnostic and interventional coronary procedures is safer for patients, more comfortable for patients and (trumpet fanfare) has the potential to reduce costs of healthcare as well. (Read more...)

September 8, 2011
Interview with Richard R. Heuser, MD, FACC
Angioplasty.Org discusses the transradial approach with angioplasty pioneer Dr. Richard Heuser of the Phoenix Heart Center. Dr. Heuser and Dr. John E. Lassetter will be conducting a special one-day transradial workshop on Sunday, September 11 in Las Vegas. Our exclusive interview with Dr. Heuser discusses why he feels the transradial approach increases patient safety, patient satisfaction and how it can reduce healthcare costs. (Read more...)

May 5, 2011
Angioplasty and Stenting from the Wrist: Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention (SCAI) Issues Its First Report on Transradial Access
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention (SCAI) released its first official report on transradial (wrist) access for angioplasty and stenting at its annual meeting, being held in Baltimore, MD this week. Published simultaneously in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, the 17-page report covers a wide range of topics, such as patient selection and preparation, artery access, catheter and therapy selection, primary PCI, potential complications and training for intervention cardiologists performing procedures via radial access. (Read more...)

April 29, 2011
Stent By Wrist in Houston
Local ABC affiliate KTRK-TV (Channel 13) in Houston ran a story today on using the wrist to place a stent -- the transradial approach. More stories like this and perhaps the U.S. will catch up with the rest of the world in its use of the radial approach, currently at only 5% in the U.S. and ten times more common in parts of Europe and Asia. (Read more...)

April 26, 2011
Wrist Angioplasty in Indiana
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Dr. Jack Hall, Program Director at St. Vincent's Heart Center in Indianapolis, Indiana will be heading a faculty of transradial experts on Saturday. The "Indianapolis Transradial Summit" has been organized to train and inform cardiologists, cath lab techs and hospital administrators on the benefits for both patient outcomes and comfort, as well as potential cost-savings that are afforded by the use of the wrist as the catheter-access site of choice, when peforming angioplasty, angiography and stent placement. (Read more...)

April 26, 2011
Transradial Angioplasty Training in Indianapolis
This Saturday cardiologists, cath lab managers and hospital administrators will gather in Indianapolis for a day-long workshop in the transradial approach to angioplasty, stents diagnostic angiograms. (Read more...)

April 26, 2011
Interview with Jack J. Hall, MD, FACC
Angioplasty.Org conducts an exclusive interview with Dr. Hall, in which he discusses the evolution of the transradial (wrist) technique and implications for patient care and economic benefit in the U.S. (Read more...)

April 8, 2011
Transradial Wrist Angioplasty RIVALs Femoral
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: The European cardiologists don't understand all the fuss in the U.S. about wrist vs. groin, radial vs. femoral. They use the wrist artery for angioplasty, stents and catheter access at least half the time (many 80-90% of the time) and they can't understand why, in the United States, it's only used in 5% of cases. (Read more...)

April 8, 2011
Angioplasty and Stenting from the Wrist Safe and Effective: The RIVAL Trial
The first large-scale trial comparing angioplasty performed via the wrist (transradial) with the procedure done from the leg (femoral) was presented at this week's annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology. Dubbed "RIVAL" (RadIal Vs. FemorAL Access for Coronary Intervention Study) the trial enrolled 7,021 patients from 158 hospitals in 32 countries. (Read more...)

April 4, 2011
SCAI Statement on "The Rival Trial: A Randomized Comparison of Radial Versus Femoral Access for Coronary Angiography or Intervention in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes"
The RIVAL Trial is the first large North American randomized clinical trial comparing the two options for accessing the heart arteries: radially (via the wrist) or femorally (via the groin, or upper leg). The findings are likely to impact practice in the United States. (Read more...)

April 4, 2011
Toshiba’s Infinix-I Vascular Systems Help Memorial Hermann To Improve Care Through Transradial Intervention
Relying on the Infinix-i vascular labs, the interventional team at Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute – TMC transitioned into performing more radial interventional procedures. The design of Toshiba’s Infinix-i systems with the flexible five-axis C-arm movement facilitates the radial approach with ease, as it allows clinicians to access the patient from either side, move the C-arm seamlessly, and situate the monitors and control panel to meet the needs of the interventional team. (Read more...)

March 29, 2011
Will a Heart Stent from the Wrist RIVAL One from the Leg?
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: The RIVAL Study is scheduled for presentation as a late-breaking clinical trial at this year's ACC.11 on Monday morning. RIVAL will compare the transradial and femoral approaches for bleeding complications, death, MI and stroke in ACS patients who are treated with PCI. It's over 7,000 patients strong and will be, in the words of Dr. Sunil V. Rao, "a huge addition to our knowledge base and what the role of radial is in a high-risk patient population." (Read more...)

March 27, 2011
Transradial Cath in Bakersfield
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: I'm always keeping an eye on the growing number of news stories about a "revolutionary new way to open the coronary arteries": the transradial approach, that is, where the radial artery in the wrist is used as the entry point for catheters, angioplasty balloons and stents. This latest TV report was broadcast Friday on KGET-TV, Channel 17 in Bakersfield, California. (Read more...)

March 22, 2011
Advanced Transradial Angioplasty Training at Duke University School of Medicine
This October, the Duke Clinical Research Institute, in conjunction with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), will present the "Duke Advanced Course in Transradial Angiography and Intervention", one of the first advanced courses in this new and growing technique to be offered in the United States. (Read more...)

March 14, 2011
Wrist Angioplasty Up-Close: New York Style
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: For physicians (and others) who are interested in seeing an advanced PCI case using the transradial or wrist approach, tune in tomorrow morning at 8:00am to this month's Interventional Cardiology Live Case Study Series from Mount Sinai Medical Center on theheart.org. (Read more...)

March 11, 2011
Transradial Training at ACC.11
If you are an interventional cardiologist, performing angioplasty and placing stents, and are attending this year's annual American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans, you should definitely think about attending the Transradial Hands-On Learning Lab to find out how to perform diagnostic caths and PCIs via the radial artery in the wrist, instead of the standard femoral access site. (Read more...)

February 13, 2011
LUMEN Course Features Transradial STEMI: Treating a Heart Attack from the Wrist
The treatment of STEMI is the subject of a two-and-a-half-day course being held in Miami, Florida on February 24-26, 2011. New this year is an emphasis on utilizing the transradial angioplasty approach for STEMI, which may be useful because the femoral access site is more prone to bleeding complications and in STEMI patients, who often are given a significant amount of anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs to lessen the blood clot causing the heart attack, bleeding can become a problem. The transradial approach virtually eliminates bleeding complications. (Read more...)

February 13, 2011
Interview with Sameer Mehta, MD, FACC, MBA
Sameer Mehta, MD, FACC, MBA, is a pioneer in STEMI intervention. He has done groundbreaking work on shortening door-to-balloon times for STEMI interventions and is the course director for LUMEN, the Annual Symposium on Optimal Treatment for Acute MI, which this year features workshops on the transradial approach to STEMI intervention. (Read more...)

January 6, 2011
Philadelphia Transradial Intervention Program: Take a TRIP
Just a reminder to you interventional cardiologists, cath lab nurses and technologists who are interested in learning how to do angiograms, angioplasty and stents from the wrist -- next Saturday, January 15, is SCAI's second transradial program, being held in Philadelphia with an "all-star" faculty of transradial experts. (Read more...)

December 12, 2010
Transradial Wrist Angioplasty Training Coast-to-Coast in January 2011
Starting the New Year off are coast-to-coast training opportunities for interventional cardiologists who are interested in learning about the transradial approach to heart catheterization, angioplasty and stenting. Dr. Morton Kern and Dr. Pranav Patel of the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, are offering their "Radial First" Training Program on January 8, and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) has scheduled the Transradial Intervention Program (TRIP) for January 15 in Philadelphia. (Read more...)

December 7, 2010
Sheathless Transradial Intervention Highly Successful in Treating Complex Lesions
Cardiologists from the Mayo Clinic performed sheathless transradial percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to remedy complex lesions, achieving a 90% success rate with no radial complications. Standard guiding catheters were used during the procedure. (Read more...)

November 18, 2010
Transradial Angioplasty Summit Comes to Chicago
This program is designed to provide a practical, in-depth exposure to performance of the technique, its application in various key patient subsets, relevant technical considerations, and management of complications. Included will be examination of the recently published data, presentation of archived cases with expert commentary, and discussion of current controversies in the field. Importantly, attendees will also gain practical, hands-on experience using transradial medical simulation and exposure to an array of dedicated transradial equipment. (Read more...)

November 16, 2010
Terumo Interventional Systems First To Offer Multiple, All-In-One Radial Access Kits For Double Or Single-Wall Entry Sticks
"Terumo now offers a wide variety of specialized radial access kits to meet everyone’s needs for managing access from the radial artery. We are pleased to offer the new Glidesheath Nitinol Kit as an all-in-one solution for transradial procedures," said Gary Clifton, Senior Marketing Manager, Terumo Medical Corporation. "This product expansion is another milestone in our commitment to delivering a complete set of radial access tools that will enhance successful outcomes and quality of life for patients." (Read more...)

November 4, 2010
Wrist Angioplasty Summit in Boston Sponsored by The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI)
How do interventional cardiologists learn a new technique for placing stents once they're out of their fellowships and settled into a practice? If that technique is using the radial artery in the wrist to reach the coronary arteries surrounding the heart, then a good way to start would be to attend tomorrow's "SCAI Radial Summit" in Boston. But you would have had to sign up weeks ago, because the course is filled up. (Read more...)

October 24, 2010
SCAI Sets TransRadial Intervention Program (TRIP) for Angioplasty from the Wrist
A sure sign that the transradial or wrist approach to performing catheterizations, angioplasty and stent placement is gaining in interest in the United States is the fact that all available spaces for SCAI's first course on the technique were filled over two weeks in advance. Acknowledging the enthusiastic response, SCAI has scheduled a second course, the SCAI Transradial Intervention Program (TRIP) to be held on January 15, 2011 in Philadelphia. (Read more...)

September 29, 2010
AccessClosure Announces Distribution Agreement for Radial Compression Band
The Bengal radial compression band was designed in partnership with radial pioneer Olivier F. Bertrand, MD, PhD, FSCAI, an Interventional Cardiologist at the Quebec Heart-Lung Institute and Associate-Professor, Faculty of Medicine, at Laval University. "I designed this device to address unmet needs in radial closure. I wanted a simple tool that achieves quick and effective hemostasis, while protecting the ulnar nerve and providing a comfortable experience for the patient," said Dr. Bertrand. (Read more...)

September 24, 2010
Terumo Interventional Systems Expands World-Class Transradial Access Solutions Portfolio With Introduction Of Heartrail™ III Coronary Guiding Catheter
Terumo Interventional Systems, a leading manufacturer of guidewires, catheters, sheaths, and embolization products, today announced the nationwide availability of the new Heartrail™ III Coronary Guiding Catheter, the company's first guiding catheter specifically designed for right radial access to maximize Transradial interventional procedures. (Read more...)

September 14, 2010
Training for the Transradial Approach to Angioplasty and Stents
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Training opportunities for the transradial approach to percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) abound. You just have to look for them. And the best place to find training courses is on Angioplasty.Org's Transradial Training Courses page. (Read more...)

September 13, 2010
Wrist Angioplasty Training Sessions at TCT 2010
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Last year's TCT Transradial sessions were Standing-Room-Only before they started. Get there early this year -- Thursday morning's Concurrent Session is a four-hour comprehensive look at using the radial artery in the wrist to perform diagnostic angiography, angioplasty and stenting safely and with lower complication rates. (Read more...)

September 13, 2010
Transradial Angioplasty at TCT 2010
This year's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting, being held in Washington DC on September 21-25, will be hosting a number of sessions featuring the transradial approach to angioplasty, in which a catheter is inserted through the radial artery in the wrist instead of the femoral artery in the groin. Angioplasty.Org has compiled a complete list of these sessions. (Read more...)

July 21, 2010
Transradial Aims At The SCAI
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: On Friday, November 5, 2010, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, SCAI will present what I believe is the first professional society-organized stand-alone course in the transradial approach to angioplasty and stent placement held in the U.S. (Read more...)

July 17, 2010
SCAI Radial Summit to Feature Angioplasty from the Wrist for Interventional Cardiologists
Angioplasty and stent placement, performed from the wrist, is the topic of the just announced "SCAI Radial Summit", being presented by the The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) in Boston, Massachusetts on November 5, 2010. This course is the first standalone course on the transradial approach to coronary interventions to be organized by a national professional society in the U.S. (Read more...)

May 25, 2010
Transradial Angioplasty Training at Duke University School of Medicine
Dr. Sunil V. Rao, one of the key researchers of access site bleeding complications resulting from angioplasty and stent placement, has been a vocal proponent of the transradial (wrist) approach to angioplasty, which minimizes or eliminates these complications. Now Dr. Rao and his colleague, Dr. Mitchell W. Krucoff, have designed a two-day CME training course in the transradial approach for clinical and interventional cardiologists, as well as physicians and technicians involved in the care of patients. (Read more...)

May 4, 2010
Where Can I Get a Stent or Angioplasty Done Through the Wrist?
In the United States, the wrist approach is utilized in less than 5% of cases. The reason is public education and professional training: patients don't know about it; many cardiologists haven't learned how to do it. But patients, who are about to have an angiogram or angioplasty or stent placement, should look over the Radial Hospital Locator on Angioplasty.Org -- a listing of scores of hospitals and practitioners who offer the radial approach. (Read more...)

May 2, 2010
Stents and Angioplasty from the Wrist: Texas Style
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: Two years ago interventional cardiologist Dr. Sanjaykumar Patel joined the Sadler Clinic in The Woodlands, a suburb of Houston. When Dr. Patel arrived in Houston, radial procedures were not well-known. Now he has now done over a thousand procedures from the wrist and, as he told Angioplasty.Org, "I differentiated myself in the community because my doing transradial was a huge advantage for me in attracting the patient referrals -- because all my patients, they loved it!" (Read more...)

May 2, 2010
Interview with Dr. Sanjay Patel: Transradial Approach to Catheterization and Angioplasty
In this exclusive interview, Dr. Sanjay Patel discusses how using the transradial approach has made a major difference in his Houston-based practice. Two years ago no one in his hospitals was doing radial procedures; today Dr. Patel runs monthly training courses on the transradial technique and patients seek him out. (Read more...)

April 1, 2010
Lucien Campeau, Transradial Pioneer, Dies at 82
Dr. Lucien Campeau, pioneering cardiologist who first performed angiography through the radial artery in the wrist, passed away on March 15, 2010 at age 82 in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec. In 1989, Dr. Campeau published his experiences in performing 100 coronary angiographies through the radial artery in the wrist in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. Three years later, Dr. Ferdinand Kiemeneij of The Netherlands adapted Campeau's technique and performed the first coronary angioplasty from the transradial route. (Read more...)

March 30, 2010
Transradial Approach to Angioplasty and Stenting to be Featured at SCAI 2010 Annual Meeting
"There's been a surge of interest in the transradial approach over the past year," according to Dr. Samir B. Pancholy, who said he expected an overflow audience at the transradial sessions being held at this year's SCAI 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions. Similar sessions at last fall's TCT and this year's ACC meetings resulted in a hundred or more cardiologists standing in the corridors, listening to the audio feed. At this year's annual SCAI meeting, being held May 5-8 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, two major concurrent sessions on transradial are on the agenda. (Read more...)

March 29, 2010
Does Less Angioplasty in Women Having a Heart Attack Lead to Worse Outcomes?
Commentary from the Editor's Blog: A study presented two weeks ago at ACC.10 demonstrated that women admitted to the hospital for a heart attack were twice as likely to die within a month as men -- mainly because they were less likely to be sent to the cath lab and given the gold standard treatment for acute infarction: angioplasty and stenting. One solution to this problem? Increased use of transradial angioplasty. (Read more...)

March 25, 2010
Angioplasty from the Wrist: Help for Patients and Physicians
Interest in the transradial or wrist approach to catheter-based heart procedures, such as diagnostic catheterization, angioplasty and stent placement, is growing in the United States. Terumo and Angioplasty.Org have fashioned several tools to help cardiologists, nurses and technicians learn the technique -- and assist patients in finding centers where the technique is practiced. (Read more...)

March 24, 2010
It’s All In The Wrist… And On The Web: U.S. Physician Demand For Transradial Access Education On The Rise
Terumo Medical Corporation, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Terumo Corporation, today announced the launch of its Transradial University, an informational website that recognizes the growing training and information needs of physicians and other medical professionals interested in expanding their use of transradial access as an alternative vascular access site. As transradial adoption expands in the U.S., two key limiting factors are training and experience. (Read more...)

March 13, 2010
Transradial Hands-On Learning Labs Offered by Terumo at American College of Cardiology Meeting
Terumo Interventional Systems is sponsoring two days of hands-on training in the transradial approach to angiography and angioplasty for attendees of this year's American College of Cardiology 59th Scientific Sessions in Atlanta, Georgia. Building on its industry-leading transradial education focus, these sessions will be held in Lab #3636 on Sunday, March 14 and Monday, March 15 from 9:00am - 4:30pm. (Read more...)

March 10, 2010
Parrish Medical Center Now Offers Transradial Cardiac Catheterizations
This story from WFTV Channel 9 in Titusville, Florida highlights Parrish Medical Center’s Cardiovascular Care program at which interventional cardiologists Dr. Ravi Rao and Dr. Biju Mathews have established North Brevard’s first Transradial Catheterization program. (Read more...)

March 8, 2010
The way to the heart is through the wrist
This profile of Dr. Daniel Dunker, a cardiologist at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs, Missouri appeared in the Independence, Missouri-based Examiner. This story, by reporter Michael Glover, like so many others in local newspapers, shines a light on an alternate way of doing angiograms and angioplasties. (Read more...)

December 5, 2009
Transradial Angiography and Intervention Seminar Now Online
This fall's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Francisco offered a unique and important session, "The Transradial Angiography and Intervention Seminar", comprising an entire afternoon with over twenty separate presentations by global leaders in the field of stents and angioplasty, as performed from the wrist. The complete session is now available online at the TCT's website, TCTMD.com (Read more...)

September 22, 2009
SRO at the Wrist Angioplasty Seminar -- Transradial is Hot
From The Editor's Blog: I'm at the TCT in San Francisco, standing outside "The Transradial Angiography and Intervention Seminar" -- because (and a hundred or so cardiologists) can't fit in the room! (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Training for Transradial Angioplasty: Get On The Wait List
Courses in the transradial approach to PCI have been difficult to find, but as word about transradial's benefits spreads, a new problem has arisen -- attendance at these courses fills up even before the dates are announced. (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Interview with Sunil V. Rao, MD, FACC
The Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at the Durham VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina and author of a landmark study about transradial, discusses the current status of this approach in the U.S. and its growth. (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty at TCT
From The Editor's Blog: I've previously complained about how the national cardiology meetings have barely mentioned a technique used 50% of the time in Canada, Europe and Asia. But this year's TCT is stepping up and has even scheduled an entire afternoon symposium (Tuesday, September 22) devoted to transradial. (Read more...)

September 16, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty Activities at TCT 2009
This year's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Francisco will host a number of symposia and workshops highlighting the growing use of the transradial (wrist) approach to angioplasty, stenting and diagnostic catheterizations. The centerpiece of the weeklong activities is "The Transradial Angiography and Intervention Seminar" comprising an entire afternoon with twenty-three separate presentations by global leaders in the field. (Read more...)

September 13, 2009
Terumo Interventional Systems Announces Launch of Glidewire Advantage™ Peripheral Guidewire
The Glidewire Advantage Peripheral Guidewire combines Terumo’s well-established Glidewire construction on the distal 25 cm with a unique spiral PTFE coating on the proximal end. The result is a guidewire that easily navigates and crosses the lesion, while also providing the operator with excellent tactile feel and support for secure device placement. These two wire sections are seamlessly fused together using Terumo’s proprietary DuoCore™ Technology. (Read more...)

September 13, 2009
Terumo Interventional Systems Announces Line Expansion of Its Pinnacle® Destination® Guiding Sheaths
The introduction of the 8F Destination Guiding Sheath extends the range of interventional procedures that can be performed by this market-leading product to include atherectomy and stent graft procedures. The Pinnacle Destination Guiding Sheath line supports virtually all applicable diagnostic and interventional procedures, offering a comprehensive range of French sizes (5F – 8F), lengths and tip shapes as well as two different valve types. (Read more...)

August 20, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty Training Course Announced for Scranton, Pennsylvania
To help meet the need for training of cardiologists and staff in the technique of transradial access for angioplasty and stenting, Pennsylvania-based Drs. Samir B. Pancholy and Ian Gilchrist have organized a one-day training course in the method. The didactic course will be held on October 10, 2009 at the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center. (Read more...)

July 28, 2009
Transradial Wrist Angioplasty Safe and Effective in Treatment of Heart Attack
For patients having the most serious form of heart attack, a new study from the United Kingdom concludes that primary angioplasty performed from the wrist "is safe, with comparable outcomes to a femoral approach and a lower risk of vascular complications." (Read more...)

May 20, 2009
Interview with Jennifer Tremmel, MD
Dr. Tremmel is Director of Transradial Interventions at Stanford Medical Center and Clinical Director of Women's Heart Health at Stanford Clinic. Within 6 months of learning the radial technique, she was doing 100% radial angioplasties, reducing complications from bleeding to near zero. (Read more...)

April 17, 2009
Transradial Angioplasty at ACC.09
A summary of all studies concerning transradial access that were presented during the American College of Cardiology 58th Annual Scientific Session held March 29-31, 2009. The take-away message from these studies was that the radial approach is comparable in success rate to the femoral with significantly lower complications. Radial access also makes possible same-day discharge of patients after stenting. (Read more...)

April 17, 2009
Angioplasty from the Wrist: Interest is Growing But Lack of Training Limits Spread in U.S.
U.S. cardiologists who practice the radial approach have identified lack of training opportunities as a major roadblock to its proliferation. Yet at this year's ACC.09, one of the largest cardiology conferences in the U.S., exposure to studies involving the transradial approach was limited to six poster presentations and one 15-minute oral presentation. (Read more...)

April 6, 2009
Cardiology Sites Taking Notice of the Radial Approach to PCI
Two polls on web sites for cardiology professionals are gauging the interest and popularity of the transradial (wrist) approach to angioplasty and stenting -- and the results are surprising, considering the low utilization of radial in the U.S. (Read more...)

February 6, 2009
Vote for Radial!
This week's poll on theheart.org is about the transradial (wrist) approach to catheterization and angioplasty. The question is "Should radial access become the default choice for PCI?" (Read more...)

January 30, 2009
Wrist Angioplasty Gaining Acceptance in U.S.
Over the past year, the transradial approach, doing angioplasty and inserting coronary stents using the wrist as the access site, has gotten significant attention. Peer-reviewed studies and presentations at meetings have consistently shown decreased bleeding complications, increased patient comfort and safety, and lower cost. (Read more...)

January 19, 2009
Transradial Access from the Wrist is Safer, Easier For Many Patients Undergoing Angioplasty or Stenting of Blocked Heart Arteries
Every year, about one million Americans opt for angioplasty over bypass surgery to open their blocked arteries. New data suggests that beginning the angioplasty procedure by entering through the wrist, rather than through the groin, will make it safer and easier on patients. (Read more...)

January 12, 2009
Radial Access Session to be Featured at ISET 2009
The 21st annual ISET meeting in Florida, being held January 18-22, 2009, is featuring a special concurrent session on Monday, January 19 from 4:30-6:00pm. Titled "Radial Access Techniques and Applications", Dr. Ramon Quesada of Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute in Miami will moderate a panel with Jeffrey J. Popma, MD of St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston and Ron Caputo, MD of St. Joseph's Hospital Cardiology Associates in Syracuse, New York. (Read more...)

January 5, 2009
Leading Interventional Cardiologists Discuss the Advantages of Transradial Access
Angioplasty.Org is making available a one-hour online symposium, titled "Transradial Access: The Advantages to You, Your Patient and Hospital", with a panel of four leading interventional cardiologists: Dr. Jeffrey Popma, Dr. Ramon Quesada, Dr. Ron Caputo and Dr. Shigeru Saito. The original symposium was held during the 2008 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting on October 16 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington DC and is being presented through a partnership of Angioplasty.Org, TCTMD.com and Terumo Medical Corporation. (Read more...)

January 1, 2009
New England Journal Criticizes CBS News on Transradial Angioplasty Report
From the Editor's Blog: I approached Susan Dentzer's article, "Communicating Medical News - Pitfalls of Health Care Journalism", published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, with great interest. I unfortunately was a bit disappointed, specifically with her criticism of a September 24, 2008 CBS News segment about transradial angioplasty. (Read more...)

December 3, 2008
Presentation on Transradial Angioplasty at 8th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics
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 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. (Read more...)

November 20, 2008
Radial Angioplasty and Angiography Safer For Elderly Patients
A new German study reports that the use of the wrist for catheter access results in lower bleeding and vascular complications for patients 75 years and older. A recent study from China found similar safety for elderly patients who presented with acute myocardial infarction. (Read more...)

November 20, 2008
Radial Angioplasty Training at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix
Several recent international studies have shown that catheterizations, angioplasty and stent placement, when performed from the wrist, result in lower bleeding complications, and are associated with a significant reduction in mortality. Even so, the wrist approach, also called transradial access, is performed in less than 4 out of 100 patients in the United States, although in Canada, Europe and Asia, use of the technique is far more common. One reason, says Dr. Mehrdad Saririan of Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, is that "there are a lot of myths surrounding radial procedures." (Read more...)

November 11, 2008
Study: Terumo TR Band™ Hemostasis Device Reduces Radial Artery Occlusion by 56%
A new study, conducted by Dr. Samir B. Pancholy of Mercy Hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, shows that the concept of "guided compression" in transradial procedures can reduce radial artery occlusion by 56%, especially when facilitated by the use of the TR Band™ Hemostasis Device. (Read more...)

November 11, 2008
Interview with Samir B. Pancholy, MD, FACC, FSCAI
In this interview, Angioplasty.Org talks with radialist Dr. Samir Pancholy about his findings regarding the prevention of radial artery occlusion, one of the few complications associated with the transradial approach to catheter-based procedures. (Read more...)

September 25, 2008
Is Radial Angioplasty at a Turning Point in U.S.?
Two recent large-scale studies confirm what a small but growing number of interventional cardiologists have seen in their own practices: for the proper patients, catheterizations and angioplasties performed from the wrist (radial) artery are safer than those performed from the groin (leg) artery, with no difference in procedural success. (Read more...)

September 24, 2008
CBS Goes Radial
Commentary from the Editor's Blog -- CBS Network's "Early Show" does a segment with Dr. Howard Cohen on "the New Angioplasty" -- from the wrist. (Read more...)

September 21, 2008
Terumo Announces Educational Programs for Transradial Catheterization and Angioplasty to be Held at the 2008 TCT Meeting
Terumo Interventional Systems has announced a number of activities, symposia and workshops, as part of the 2008 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting being held October 12-17, 2008 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington DC. (Read more...)

September 16, 2008
Angioplasty from the Radial Artery in the Wrist is Safer, Says Study of 600,000 Patients
A study, published in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiac Interventions, looked at 593,094 angioplasty and stent patients and found that those patients who had procedures done from the radial or wrist artery experienced 58% less bleeding complications than those who had their procedures done from the femoral artery in the groin -- yet the radial approach is used less than 2% of the time in the U.S. (Read more...)

September 15, 2008
Interview with Tak W. Kwan, MD, FACC, FACP
In this interview, Angioplasty.Org discusses the transradial approach to catheterization and intervention with Dr. Tak Kwan. For a number of years, Dr. Kwan has worked closely with Dr. John Coppola of St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. Both Dr. Kwan and Dr.Coppola traveled to India in 2003 to learn the radial technique from Dr. Tejus Patel. (Read more...)

September 15, 2008
Transradial Cardiac Catheterizations Using Optitorque™ Catheters
A white paper by Drs. Tak Kwan and Jared S. Corriel describes the use of Terumo's Optitorque™ catheter for performing transradial cardiac catheterizations. The authors conclude that the use of this single catheter, which can be used for both the left and right coronary angiograms, as well as the left ventriculogram, has the potential to significantly reduce procedure cost and time, complications, and patient discomfort. (Read more...)

July 20, 2008
Radial Angioplasty Training at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York
Dr. John T. Coppola and Dr. Tak Kwan of St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan have announced their third training course in the transradial technique for catheterization, angioplasty and stenting. Their June course was fully enrolled weeks in advance. (Read more...)

June 26, 2008
Interview with Mauricio G. Cohen, MD, FACC
In its ongoing series of interviews with practitioners of the transradial approach to catheterization and interventions, Angioplasty.Org discusses how and why Dr. Cohen decided to specialize in this alternative vascular access technique. Also featured is Dr. Cohen's tutorial slide show. (Read more...)

June 10, 2008
Interview with Shigeru Saito, MD
One of the world's leading educators and practitioners of transradial coronary intervention, Dr. Shigeru Saito discusses how he introduced the technique to Japan a decade ago and makes recommendations for physicians interested in starting their own practice. (Read more...)

June 10, 2008
Interest in Transradial Angioplasty Growing Among U.S. Cardiologists
In many countries around the world, angioplasty or stenting is done through an artery in the wrist 30-50% of the time. A recent study reported half the bleeding complications and lower mortality with this method. Yet in the United States, the use of this technique, called transradial angioplasty, remains in the low single digits. One of the reasons has to do with the training of interventional cardiologists. (Read more...)

May 10, 2008
New Radial Angioplasty Course Set for St. Vincent's Hospital in New York
Following up on his April course, Dr. John T. Coppola, Chairman of Cardiology at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, will be presenting a two-day hands-on training course for cardiologists on the clinical, didactic and practical aspects of Transradial Access. The course will be held on June 12-13, 2008 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York. Course Co-Director is Dr. Tak Kwan and special Guest Faculty is world-famous interventionalist, Dr. Shigeru Saito of Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, Japan. (Read more...)

May 2, 2008
Another Way To Rescue A Threatened Heart: Through The Wrist
(Susan Jenks, Florida Today)
Cardiologists say operation takes less nursing care, space, recovery time. Norberto Schechtmann, vice chairman of the cardiology department at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, is one of several local cardiologists who uses the radial artery as an alternative way to reach the heart, often to relieve severe angina or chest pains. Patients who are obese or suffer from peripheral artery disease, making groin access too difficult, can benefit the most, he said. (Read more...)

March 19, 2008
Wrist Angioplasty Associated with 50% Less Blood Transfusions and Lower Mortality
A study of over 30,000 patients that examined every angioplasty done in British Columbia from 1999-2005 was just published online (before print) in the British journal "Heart" and the conclusion carries an important message for the interventional cardiology community: trans-radial access was associated with a halving of transfusion rate and a reduction in 30 day and 1 year mortality. (Read more...)

March 14, 2008
Radial Angioplasty Course Set for St. Vincent's Hospital in New York
Dr. John T. Coppola, Chairman of Cardiology at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, will be presenting his annual one-day course for cardiologists and related healthcare professionals, titled, "Complex Interventions via the Transradial Route", on April 2, 2008. The course is free of charge. (Read more...)

February 17, 2008
Angioplasty from the Wrist: Transradial Approach Offers Benefits to Patients and Physicians
(Special Feature -- Angioplasty.Org)
Last week two catheterization suites at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City were taken over by cardiologists Dr. Howard Cohen and Dr. Kirk Garratt in order to teach visiting cardiologists how to perform angioplasty in a different way -- from the wrist. (Read more...)

February 13, 2008
New Terumo Glidecath® Catheter Yashiro Tip Shape Improves Access to Celiac Artery
Terumo Interventional Systems' proven Glidecath Hydrophilic Coated catheter product line makes way for the Yashiro tip shape; a new, three-dimensional U-shape tip for optimal entry to the celiac trunk. (Read more...)

February 12, 2008
Terumo Interventional Systems Expands Its Renowned Glidewire® Hydrophilic Coated Guidewire Product Line
With its unique double angle to facilitate the selection of vessels that lie at, or originate at, difficult to access angles and take-offs, the Bolia curve is among the new additions to the Terumo Glidewire Hydrophilic Coated Guidewire product line. (Read more...)

October 16, 2007
Terumo Interventional Systems Launches New Radial Artery Compression Device
Terumo Interventional Systems announces the launch of the TR Band, a radial artery compression device designed to safely and comfortably stop bleeding after transradial procedures. The TR Band sets a new standard of excellence with its easy-to-apply transparent band and precision pressure balloons that enable unobstructed visualization and monitoring of radial artery compression - all while preventing numbness and pain for enhanced patient comfort. (Read more...)

January 11, 2007
Terumo Interventional Systems Launches Pinnacle® R/O II HiFlo for Superficial Access
(source: Terumo Medical Corporation)
Terumo now is making available a new 4 cm. stiff introducer sheath , used in situations where superficial access is necessary and where the lesion to be treated is close to the vascular access site.