Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the preferred treatment method for coronary artery diseases (CAD). This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and complications of the Guidezilla™ guide extension catheter I (GGEC I) in transradial coronary intervention (TRI).
This case series study included patients with CAD who underwent TRI using the GGEC I between August 2016 and January 2019 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University.
A total of 221 patients aged 65.1 ± 9.26 years were included. Coronary angiography results indicated that most patients (77.8%) had triple-vessel lesions, including 47.5% with chronic total occlusion (CTO). A total of 237 target lesions were treated, most being type C lesions (95.8%). The most common indication for GGEC I use was heavy calcification (67%), followed by extreme tortuosity (12.2%), extreme tortuosity and heavy calcification (10.9%), distally located lesion (4.5%), picking up the retrograde wire (3.2%), anomalous vessel origin (1.8%), and releasing the burr incarceration (0.4%). The mean operation time was 58 min, and the overall success rate was 94.1%. Four patients received a drug-coated balloon. No significant differences were found in operation time and success rate among the low (<23), intermediate (23–32), and severe (>32) CAD groups based on SYNTAX score stratification (
The GGEC I might have advantages for TRI and is unaffected by SYNTAX score stratification.