Standards of angiography & percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and their application to current practice

OBJECTIVES To review standards of angiography and angioplasty in the light of a study of post-intervention complications. METHODSData for early (24-hours) and 30-day complications after diagnostic angiography (DA) and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) were prospectively examined over a 28-month period. Complication rates were compared with the published standards. RESULTS758 patients were included. Major complications occurred in 1.18%. The commonest complication was haematoma (n=16, 2.11%), of which two were major. Systemic problems (nausea, vomiting, vasovagal syncope, transient hypotension and transient arrhythmias) accounted for 1.45%. Arterial occlusion, minor vessel rupture, distal emboli and renal failure constituted the remainder with an incidence of 0.66%. No pseudoaneurysms or arteriovenous fistulae occurred. The 30day mortality rate was 1.82%.CONCLUSIONThis study demonstrated lower mortality and morbidity than published standards in 2001. Standards of DA developed by the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (2001SCVIR) could be extended to include PTA. Pseudoaneurysm appears to be avoidable.