OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the nitinol clip-based closure device (Starclose®, Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) in patients with femoral arterial cannulation at the common femoral artery bifurcation. BACKGROUND: Femoral artery puncture at the bifurcation of common femoral artery is a relative contraindication for the use of vascular closure devices with intravascular components, and patients with bifurcation cannulation were excluded from the pivotal trials of these devices. The nitinol clip-based closure device (Starclose) is extravascular and is sometimes used in such patients; however, the efficacy and safety of this approach is unknown. METHODS: We evaluated consecutive patients undergoing deployment of a Starclose device following a coronary procedure via the femoral artery approach. Quantitative femoral angiographic analyses were performed using a hand caliper. The distance of the artery puncture site from the bifurcation was recorded in each patient. Any arterial cannulation ≤ 3 mm from the bifurcation was categorized as a bifurcation cannulation (as the outer diameter of the nitinol clip of Starclose is 4 mm). RESULTS: Among 1096 patients who underwent deployment of a Starclose device, 217 (20%) were within 3 mm of the bifurcation. Starclose deployment at the bifurcation was not associated with a significant increase in the risk of any (0.9% vs. 1.0%; p = 0.892) major (0.0% vs. 0.3%; p = 0.389) or minor vascular complications (0.9% vs. 0.7%; p = 0.711) compared to deployment for non-bifurcation cannulations (both for diagnostic and percutaneous coronary interventional procedures). The results were unchanged in both a regression model adjusted for a propensity score (41 baseline covariates) as well as a propensity score-matched cohort (217 bifurcation cannulations vs. 217 non-bifurcation cannulations). CONCLUSION: In a select group of patients, vascular closure using a extravascular closure device (Starclose) appears to be safe for arterial cannulations at or near the bifurcation.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the nitinol clip-based closure device (Starclose®, Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) in patients with femoral arterial cannulation at the common femoral artery bifurcation. BACKGROUND: Femoral artery puncture at the bifurcation of common femoral artery is a relative contraindication for the use of vascular closure devices with intravascular components, and patients with bifurcation cannulation were excluded from the pivotal trials of these devices. The nitinol clip-based closure device (Starclose) is extravascular and is sometimes used in such patients; however, the efficacy and safety of this approach is unknown. METHODS: We evaluated consecutive patients undergoing deployment of a Starclose device following a coronary procedure via the femoral artery approach. Quantitative femoral angiographic analyses were performed using a hand caliper. The distance of the artery puncture site from the bifurcation was recorded in each patient. Any arterial cannulation ≤ 3 mm from the bifurcation was categorized as a bifurcation cannulation (as the outer diameter of the nitinol clip of Starclose is 4 mm). RESULTS: Among 1096 patients who underwent deployment of a Starclose device, 217 (20%) were within 3 mm of the bifurcation. Starclose deployment at the bifurcation was not associated with a significant increase in the risk of any (0.9% vs. 1.0%; p = 0.892) major (0.0% vs. 0.3%; p = 0.389) or minor vascular complications (0.9% vs. 0.7%; p = 0.711) compared to deployment for non-bifurcation cannulations (both for diagnostic and percutaneous coronary interventional procedures). The results were unchanged in both a regression model adjusted for a propensity score (41 baseline covariates) as well as a propensity score-matched cohort (217 bifurcation cannulations vs. 217 non-bifurcation cannulations). CONCLUSION: In a select group of patients, vascular closure using a extravascular closure device (Starclose) appears to be safe for arterial cannulations at or near the bifurcation.