Heart catheterization: Change in methods lowers mortality

The groin is the usual access point for investigating or treating the heart with a catheter, but using the wrist as access point reduces bleeding and lowers mortality. These findings are from an international study with major involvement from the University of Bern published today in the Lancet. About 46,000 cardiac catheterizations are carried out each year in Switzerland; about 22,000 of involve treatments of coronary vessels. The vessels are dilated with a small balloon and supported with a drug-eluting stent so that the heart muscle gets adequate blood supply. The majority of cardiac catheter interventions are still carried out through the femoral artery. Swiss cardiologists choose to insert the catheter through the radial artery less frequently because it is technically more demanding. However, the new access point is increasingly used - and rightly so, as the largest randomized trial to compare wrist and groin access points to date shows.