Safety and efficacy of transradial vs transfemoral arterial primary coronary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction: single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the transradial arterial approach (TRA) is not inferior to the transfemoral arterial approach (TFA) for
METHODS AND RESULTS: This study enrolled 506 AMI patients undergoing primary PCI using the TRA (group 1) between March 2002 and May 2007, and 810 AMI patients undergoing primary PCI using TFA (group 2) between May 1993 and February 2002. The results demonstrated that puncture to first balloon-inflation time was similar in both groups; however, the procedure time was shorter in group 1 than in group 2 (P<0.0001). Additionally, the incidences of stenting, tirofiban therapy and final normal coronary blood flow of the infarct-related artery were higher, whereas the frequency of intra-aortic balloon pump support was lower in group 1 than in group 2 (all P<0.02). Although the 30-day mortality rate did not differ between the 2 groups (P=0.341), the rate of combined major vascular and bleeding complications was higher in group 2 than in group 1 (P<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS: Initial selection of TRA is not inferior to initial selection of TFA for AMI patients undergoing primary PCI. However, in the present study, the incidence of combined vascular and bleeding complications was lower with the TRA than with the TFA approach.