Transcatheter retrieval of intracoronary detached angioplasty guidewire segment.

A transcatheter technique of removing a detached angioplasty guidewire segment from the diagonal branch of the left anterior descending coronary artery is described. A standard 0.014 angioplasty guidewire was modified into a "snare" apparatus for retrieval of the detached wire segment. The retrieval was successfully accomplished without intimal dissection, plaque hemorrhage, or vessel occlusion.