ABSTRACT
The Grollman pulmonary artery catheter was modified by turning the pigtail downward to facilitate lower lobar catheterization with the femoral approach. The advantage of this tip configuration was obvious in the 30 cases in which it was attempted. The superiority of this catheter in traversing the tricuspid valve and in entering the right or left pulmonary artery with equal ease was also noted.
Subject(s)
Catheterization/instrumentation , Pulmonary Artery/diagnostic imaging , Catheterization/methods , Equipment Design , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Humans , RadiographyABSTRACT
The cardiovascular applications of flexible fiber-optic technology are imminent because of recent advances in miniaturization. In the work described here, angioscopy, or vascular endoscopy, was performed in the cadaveric aorta and in the systemic and pulmonary circulations of the canine model and selected human patients. Subsequent to our development of percutaneous techniques, clinical trials have ranged from lower-extremity venoscopy to aortic-root arterioscopy. Angioscopy could be clinically useful because of relative or absolute contraindications to iodinated contrast material. The ability to see in color and three dimensions may afford some other advantages to angioscopy over conventional angiography.
