For elderly patients (over the age of 70 years), do you advise the routine use of a left radial approach to avoid the tortuosity of subclavian-innominate artery?
Tortuosity is a common challenge when using the radial approach. At the recent American College of Cardiology Scientific Session, there was an abstract that examined the issue of left versus right radial artery as the initial approach. In this single-center study, they found that for patients over the age of 70 years and for patients who are shorter than 65 inches (165 cm), the left radial approach resulted in shorter procedure times. This suggests that for shorter, older patients, the left radial artery may be a better initial approach.
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