Cannulation of the coronary sinus via the femoral vein--a new technique.

BACKGROUND

Cannulation of the coronary sinus usually has been accomplished by advancing a catheter through the sub-clavian or internal jugular veins.

HYPOTHESIS: We have developed a new technique for cannulation of the coronary sinus with a modified 6F Judkins L5 coronary catheter positioned through the femoral vein.

RESULTS

The technique was tried successfully in 20 consecutive patients by the same operator and the average fluoroscopy time for coronary sinus cannulation was 1.6 +/- 1.0 min.

CONCLUSION

Analysis of the results showed evidence of a learning curve with improvement of time with an increasing number of patients. The method provides a safe and inexpensive solution for catheterization of the coronary sinus, easily accessible to every catheter laboratory.