Efficacy and safety of a 260-cm Amplatz Super Stiff guidewire during transradial percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background Although transradial percutaneous coronary intervention (TR-PCI) is widely used in clinical practice, guidewire-related complications are an important cause of transradial approach failure. We investigated the prognostic value of the 260-cm Amplatz Super Stiff guidewire for reducing the complication rate during TR-PCI. Methods Five hundred patients with positive Allen's test results were divided into 3 groups according to the type of angiography guidewire: group A, 150-cm Emerald guidewire standard J-tip (n=160); group B, 150-cm Radifocus guidewire M (n=176); and group C, exchangeable 260-cm Amplatz Super Stiff guidewire after placement of a 150-cm Radifocus guidewire M (n=164). Results Group C had the highest success rate (P=.008) and the lowest incidence of operative complications such as radial artery spasms and hematomas (P=.030 and P=.036, respectively). In addition, the groups differed significantly in terms of fluoroscopy and catheter placement times (P=.02. and P<.001, respectively); group C had the shortest times for these occurrences. Conclusions The exchangeable 260-cm Amplatz Super Stiff guidewire markedly decreased the incidence of guidewire-related complications, reduced fluoroscopy times, and increased the procedural success rate. Therefore, this tool can be considered a safe, effective, and feasible exchangeable guidewire for TR-PCI.