Coronary angioplasty using new 6 French guiding catheters.

Coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was performed with specially constructed 6-French guiding catheters with an internal lumen of 0.051 inches. In 154 patients these guiding catheters were used in a variety of configurations in conjunction with miniature balloon-on-a-wire dilatation catheters in 1.5 to 3.5 mm sizes to perform PTCA. Overall patient success was 94%. PTCA was attempted in 24 totally occluded arteries with a success rate of 83% and 174 stenoses with a success rate of 97%. 6 French guiding catheters can be used to successfully perform PTCA.