INITIAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE EUROPASS(TM) - A NEW ULTRA-LOW PROFILE MONORAIL BALLOON CATHETER

One of the causes for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty ( PTCA) failure is the inability to cross the lesion with the balloon ca theter after guidewire positioning. The Europass(TM) coronary angiopla sty catheter is a monorail Duralyn(TM) balloon catheter developed to e nhance lesion crossability and to overcome this limitation. This syste m was evaluated in 50 patients in which target lesions were chronic to tal coronary occlusions (12 cases) or stenoses that could not be reach ed or crossed by other new monorail balloon catheters. Overall procedu ral success was obtained in 49/50 patients (98%), using a single Europ ass(TM) balloon catheter in 46/50 patients (92%), with no in-hospital complications. Its low profile, small distal shaft, and excellent trac kability allowed successful angioplasty in cases where other catheters failed. This balloon catheter represents a significant advance in ang ioplasty technology and can be considered as a first-choice device for a safe and expeditious single-operator procedure. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss , Inc.