Abstract

Distal cephalic vein access for right heart catheterization from the anatomical snuffbox

Author(s): Hady Lichaa

Distal radial artery access for Left Heart Catheterization (LHC) from the anatomical snuffbox has become more prevalent in clinical practice due to its multiple well described advantages. If an associated Right Heart Catheterization (RHC) is required, it is usually performed from the antecubital area or distal medial arm access. This requires a dual procedural field preparation which adds more time, patient inconvenience, radiation exposure to the operator as well as suboptimal ergonomics.

We hereby present a new technique for right heart catheterization from a distal cephalic access. This novel approach offers many advantages: Patient comfort, ease of setup, operator convenience in access/ergonomics, reduction of radiation exposure and simultaneous arterial and venous hemostasis with the same distal radial compression device, allowing for improved efficiency and better patient throughput.