Direct coronary stenting by transradial approach: Rationale and technical issues

Direct stent implantation using radial approach represents to date the less invasive, less traumatic strategy to perform a percutaneous coronary intervention, rendering its adoption an attraction for many interventional cardiologists. A growing series of reports suggests the feasibility of transradial direct stenting in a variety of clinical situations. Here we discuss the main advantages of the adoption of this technique. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the technical issues specifically related with each phase of transradial direct stenting procedures is reported. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.