SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF CHRONIC TOTAL PERIPHERAL OCCLUSIONS THAT FAILED CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES USING THE STIFF BACK-END OF THE GLIDEWIRE(TM)

The vast majority of failures of transcatheter interventions in patien ts with peripheral vascular disease are due to inability to cross the lesion with a guidewire. Although the use of the Glidewire(TM) has cle arly improved the success rate, failures with especially chronic total occlusions still occur. We describe a new technique using the very st iff backend of the Glidewire, which we have found very successful, whe n conventional techniques fail in crossing highly resistant lesions. ( C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.