Radial Versus Femoral Access for Coronary Angiography/Intervention in Women With Acute Coronary Syndromes

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcin.2014.11.017
• Publication Date: 2015-04-20T18:18:17Z
• Authors: Shaheen Pandie; Shamir R. Mehta; Warren J. Cantor; Asim N. Cheema; Peggy Gao; Mina Madan; Kari Niemela; Sunil V. Rao; Jon David Schwalm; Vicent Valentin; James L. Velianou; Sanjit S. Jolly
• Keywords: Male; Internationality; Coronary Angiography; Risk Assessment; Severity of Illness Index; 03 medical and health sciences; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention; Sex Factors; 0302 clinical medicine; Catheterization, Peripheral; Confidence Intervals; Humans; Acute Coronary Syndrome; Aged; Proportional Hazards Models; radial access; PCI; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Femoral Artery; Survival Rate; Multivariate Analysis; Radial Artery; Female; women; Follow-Up Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of radial versus femoral access in women undergoing coronary angiography/intervention.The risk of bleeding and vascular access site complications are higher in women than in men.In a pre-specified RIVAL (RadIal Vs femorAL access for coronary intervention) subgroup analysis, we compared outcomes in women (n=1,861) and men (n=5,160) randomized to radial versus femoral access.Overall, women were at higher risk of major vascular complications compared with men (4.7% vs. 1.7%; p<0.0001). Major vascular complications were significantly reduced with radial access in women (3.1% vs. 6.1%; hazard ratio [HR]: 0.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32 to 0.78; p=0.002) and in men (0.7% vs. 2.8%; HR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.45; p<0.0001; interaction p=0.092). Crossover rates were higher with radial compared with femoral access in women (11.1% vs. 1.9%; HR: 5.88; p<0.0001) and men (6.3% vs. 1.9%; HR: 3.32; p<0.0001; interaction p=0.054). Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) success rates were similar irrespective of access site (women: HR: 1.05; p=0.471; men: HR: 1.00; p=0.888; interaction p=0.674), with no differences in PCI complications. In multivariable analyses, female sex was an independent predictor of major vascular complications (HR: 2.39; 95% CI: 1.76 to 3.25; p<0.0001). There were consistent findings for women and men, with no difference for the primary composite endpoint of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and non-coronary artery bypass grafting bleeding (women: 3.9% vs. 5.0%; HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.50 to 1.19; men: 3.54% vs. 3.5%; HR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.75 to -1.34; interaction p=0.325).Women undergoing coronary angiography and PCI have a higher risk of vascular access site complications compared with men, and radial access is an effective method to reduce these complications.