Abstract
The purpose of our study was to evaluate the clinical outcome and patient's satisfaction
in elderly patients undergoing transradial coronary intervention. From July 1998 to
June 1999, 24 patients (18 males, 6 females) with a mean age of 70 ± 4.9 years (range:
65–79 years) underwent elective transradial coronary interventions with 6F catheters.
All patients had undergone previous 6F-transfemoral diagnostic coronary angiography.
Procedural success was 100% and no major adverse cardiovascular event occurred. All
patients were ambulatory immediately after the procedure and discharged early next
morning. There was no vascular complication during the period immediately following
the procedure, or on follow-up. The mean satisfaction grade was 1.4 ± 0.7 for the
transradial interventional approach, and 4.3 ± 0.6 for the transfemoral diagnostic
approach (p < 0.05). Transradial coronary intervention was judged to be safe and effective
in this study. It appeared more acceptable than transfemoral approach amongst the
elderly patients who were particularly susceptible to the adverse sequel of immobilization.
