The Hunter pulmonary angiography catheter for a brachiocephalic vein approach.

The purpose of this work was to describe our experience in performing pulmonary angiography using the Hunter pulmonary catheter, manufactured by Cook, Inc., which is a modified 6F pigtail catheter with a "C-shaped" curve, designed for a brachiocephalic vein approach. One hundred twenty-three patients underwent pulmonary angiograms using the Hunter catheter between August 1997 and January 2002. Operator comments were gathered in 86 (70%) of the cases. The operator was, if possible, the most junior resident on the service. Thirty-nine operators participated in the survey. Efficacy, safety, and ease of use of the catheter were determined by operators' comments and ECG observations during the procedure. Corroborating clinical data were gathered from medical records. In 68 (79%) of the procedures that were commented upon, the operator described insertion into the pulmonary artery (PA) as easy; only 2 (2%) indicated difficulty in accessing the PA. In 41 (63%) of the bilateral angiograms that were commented upon, the operator described accessing the left PA from the right PA as easy; only 6 (9%) rated it as difficult and all were with an older technique in which the catheter was withdrawn to the pulmonary bifurcation without a wire or with only the soft tip of the wire in the pigtail and then rotated to the left main pulmonary artery. Thirty-one of the 41 patients who demonstrated premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) had a previous history of heart disease. Nineteen of the 39 patients who did not have PVCs had a history of heart disease (p = 0.018). The maneuverability and shape of the Hunter catheter make pulmonary angiography an easy procedure, even for operators with minimal experience and limited technical proficiency. PVCs demonstrated a statistically significant correlation with a positive patient history for cardiac disease, rather than being a universal risk.