A Case With Successful Retrograde Stent Delivery via AC Branch for Tortuous Right Coronary Artery

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Abstract: The retrograde approach is a novel technique of percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion. This technique has improved the success rate of guidewire passage through the occlusion. In the retrograde approach, a microcatheter and balloon are delivered through a retrograde channel. However, it is difficult for a stent to pass through collateral arteries. We report a case of coronary artery stenosis in a markedly tortuous right coronary artery for which a drug-eluting stent was delivered retrogradely via the atrial circumflex branch.

  J INVASIVE CARDIOL 2013;25(2):E39-E41

Key words: percutaneous coronary intervention, retrograde approach, collateral artery

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Coronary stents have long been used for the treatment of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease because of their ability to achieve lower restenosis rates than balloon angioplasty alone.^1,2 In addition, the introduction of the drug-eluting stent (DES) has helped reduce the need for target lesion revascularization and in this regard, the rate of cardiac events including revascularization during 1 year of follow-up after placement of a Cypher stent, the first provided DES for use in the clinical setting, was less than 10%.³ However, as stents are made of metal and therefore rigid, they are occasionally difficult to deliver, especially to tortuous vessels.^4,5 Recently, the retrograde approach has been employed mainly for the treatment of chronic total occlusion of the coronary artery, and with advances in devices exclusive for the retrograde approach, it is becoming established as a therapeutic technique.⁶ With this procedure, the microcatheter and balloon are delivered through collateral vessels such as septal perforator and epicardial coronary arteries such as atrial circumflex (AC) branch, posterolateral (PL) branch, and right ventricular (RV) branch, for support of the guidewire and dilatation of the subintimal space. However, it was considered practically impossible to deliver stents via collateral arteries due to their rigid profile. Here, we report a case of coronary artery narrowing in a markedly tortuous right coronary artery (RCA), treated with a DES delivered via the AC branch in a retrograde manner.

Case report

An 81-year-old male with hypertension and hyperlipidemia presented with exertional chest pain. Diagnostic catheterization was undertaken to explore for the presence of coronary artery stenosis. Coronary arteriography revealed severe luminal narrowings in the RCA and left circumflex (LCX) coronary artery (Figures 1A-1D). Moreover, the RCA was markedly tortuous and huge collateral networks were identified between the RCA and LCX (Figure 1E).

The patient underwent first percutaneous coronary intervention for the LCX lesion with the right radial approach. A 5.5 Fr JL 3.5 sheathless guiding catheter (Medikit) was cannulated to the left coronary artery. The back-up force of the guiding catheter was adequate for delivery of a Multi-Link Vision stent (4.0 × 23 mm; Abbott Vascular) despite moderate tortuosity of the ostial LCX. The lesion was successfully dilated and sufficient coronary flow was obtained after stent placement (Figure 2A), and after opening the LCX lesion, abundant collateral circulations to the peripheral RCA via the AC branch were observed.

Thereafter, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the coronary stenoses in the RCA was attempted. The two target lesions were located in the middle and distal portions, respectively. The RCA was markedly tortuous between the stenoses and therefore, the operator decided on a femoral approach to obtain a strong back-up force for the guiding catheter. Insertion of a 7 Fr sheath was attempted from the right femoral artery, but the tortuosity of the right iliac artery resulted in incomplete insertion of the 20-cm long sheath. The left iliac artery was even more tortuous; therefore, the procedure was started with the right femoral approach. When a 7 Fr SAL1 guiding catheter (Launcher; Medtronic) was cannulated to the RCA, engagement of the guiding catheter was insufficient because of reduced torque transmission due to the tortuosity of the iliac artery. A Fielder FC guidewire (Asahi Intecc) crossed the two lesions toward the distal RCA, and IVUS examination was attempted. An Eagle Eye IVUS catheter (Volcano) was able to advance to the proximal portion of the middle RCA lesion, and a Cypher stent (3.5 × 18 mm; Cordis Corporation) could be delivered and deployed to the middle RCA lesion (Figure 2B).

After implantation of the first Cypher stent, the Eagle Eye was able to advance across the middle RCA lesion, though the guiding catheter was pushed back when the IVUS catheter was advanced further. At this moment, delivery of the Cypher stent to the distal RCA lesion was considered to be too laborious, and the operator therefore decided to attempt retrograde stent delivery through the AC branch. A 90-cm long 7 Fr AL1 guiding catheter (Axess; SJM Japan) was inserted from the right brachial artery and cannulated to the left coronary artery. Then, another Fielder FC guidewire was advanced to the LCX and negotiated the AC branch. Consequently, the guidewire reached the peripheral RCA through the AC branch, crossed the distal RCA lesion retrogradely, and reached the aortic root (Figure 3A). Firstly, competence of device passage through the conspicuously large AC branch was examined using a 2.0 mm balloon, which had been used for predilatation of the middle RCA lesion.

After confirming the crossability of the small balloon, we tried with a 3.5 mm Cypher stent delivery balloon, which was much more rugged than the 2.0 mm balloon. The operator experienced no resistance in the passage of either of these balloons through the AC branch. Then, the Eagle Eye was delivered retrogradely to the RCA for examination of both the distal RCA lesion and the AC branch (Figure 3B).

The Eagle Eye successfully advanced to the RCA through the AC branch and the diameter of the AC branch was determined to be approximately 2.0 mm, which was considered to be large enough for stent delivery (Figure 5B). Finally, another Cypher stent (3.0 × 18 mm) was successfully delivered to the distal RCA lesion through the AC branch in a retrograde manner (Figure 3C). The position was confirmed with antegrade dye injection and the Cypher stent was deployed to the distal RCA at 20 atm (Figure 3D). The coronary angiogram showed sufficient coronary flow, and a retrograde IVUS examination revealed adequate expansion and complete apposition of the stent (Figures 4A, 4B, 5C). Hemodynamics were stable and no ischemic episode was observed throughout the procedure. The patient was discharged the next day and he experienced no further angina.

Discussion

To date, only two cases of retrograde stent delivery have been reported. In the first one, 6 Vision stents were delivered through an epicardial collateral channel between the distal LAD and posterior descending artery of the RCA.⁷ In the second one, a Cypher stent was delivered via the septal perforator after the septal channel was dilated with a 2.0 mm balloon.⁸ These were cases of CTO and the retrograde stent delivery was attempted because antegrade guidewire crossing was unsuccessful. Accordingly, our report is the first case of retrograde stent delivery for a lesion other than CTO, in which antegrade stent delivery was thought to be difficult due to the tortuosity of the proximal RCA.

The retrograde approach was recently introduced for percutaneous interventions for chronic total occlusion (CTO-PCI). In CTO-PCI, the retrograde approach has been performed to improve the success rate of guidewire crossing using the retrograde wire crossing, kissing wire, controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking (CART), or reverse CART technique. In this novel procedure, the microcatheter and balloon are delivered via collateral channels such as septal branches and epicardial collateral channels (eg, AC branch, RV branch, and PL branch). In ordinary situations, the collateral channel is too small for a stent to pass, and having stents cross tiny vessels by force may cause dissection and perforation, leading to cardiac tamponade and critical ischemia. In the present case, the AC branch was approximately 2 mm in diameter as measured by IVUS, and the pathway was relatively straight. Therefore, we considered that the retrograde stent delivery would be possible and risk of injury to the collateral vessel would be extremely low.

Conclusion

We have reported a case of retrograde DES delivery through the huge AC branch. Retrograde stent delivery may be a possible therapeutic option for cases in which antegrade stent delivery is difficult.

References

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From the Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University Katsushika Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.

Disclosure: The authors have completed and returned the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. The authors report no conflicts of interest regarding the content herein.

Manuscript submitted August 6, 2012, provisional acceptance given September 12, 2012, final version accepted September 28, 2012.

Address for correspondence: Dr Yoshiki Uehara, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University Katsushika Medical Center,  6-41-2, Aoto, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 125-8506, Japan. Email: yuehara-circ@umin.ac.jp