New Route to the Heart

In the U.S., when doctors open clogged coronary arteries with balloon angioplasty, they usually get to the heart through the big femoral artery in the groin. That’s how more than 95 percent of angioplasty procedures are conducted in this country. But a new study called the RIVAL trial compared this approach to access through the artery in the forearm. The large multi-center trial found that the risks of death, stroke, heart attack or bleeding were similar for both types of procedures. The investigators also found that hospitals doing a large number of forearm-access procedures get better results. This approach is considerably more common in Europe, but the new study may encourage interventional cardiologists in the U.S. to consider adopting the forearm technique to reduce the risk of vascular complications.
[The Lancet, April 4, 2011]