A TECHNIQUE FOR CHANGING A PTCA BALLOON CATHETER OVER A REGULAR-LENGTH GUIDEWIRE

In 100 patients who underwent coronary angioplasty with more than one balloon catheter for a lesion, these over-the-wire balloon catheters w ere changed by using a regular-length guidewire. In order to change to another balloon, the inflation device was connected to the central gu ide wire lumen of the catheter after pulling back the catheter until t he proximal end of the regular length guide wire disappeared. By pulli ng back the balloon catheter from the guiding catheter by applying a p ressure with the inflation device, the balloon was taken out of the gu iding catheter leaving the wire in the coronary artery. One hundred fo rty-nine of 163 attempted procedures were completed successfully. Our technique helped in performing a fast, safe, and reliable changing pro cedure compared to the procedure with an extended guidewire. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.