The Prevalence of Radial Artery Occlusion in Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization and Percutaneous Intervention

The Prevalence of Radial Artery Occlusion in Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization and Percutaneous Intervention

The purpose of this study is to establish the rate of radial artery occlusion post transradial cardiac catheterization through different modalities.

The study hypothesis is that specialized imaging can provide specific information to help identify hand complications after cardiac catheterization through the wrist.

The purpose of this study is to establish the rate of radial artery occlusion post diagnostic/interventional cardiac catheterization through different modalities, and to compare current assessment methods (such as Allen's test, Modified Barbeau test and duplex ultrasonography) to specialized imaging techniques for sensitivity and specificity of radial artery occlusion detection post transradial catheterization.

The study hypothesis is that specialized imaging can provide a specific focused analysis of hand characteristics to identify physiologic abnormalities as a result of radial artery occlusion post transradial catheterization.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult subjects over the age of 18 who present to the Jesse Brown VA cath lab for a diagnostic radial artery angiogram or percutaneous intervention will be considered for the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any subject who is unable to give informed consent or declines to participate will be excluded.
• Patients who have previously had a cardiac catheterization through the radial artery will be excluded because it will not be known if the changes to the circulation of the hand is secondary to the current or previous transradial catheterization.