Guide wire entrapment during PTCA: a potentially dangerous complication.

The tip of a "high-torque" floppy guide wire became entrapped in a coronary artery during elective PTCA in four patients. In two it was removed through the guiding catheter, in the third an operative intervention was needed in order to free the wire, and in the fourth the remnant was left in situ. Interventional cardiologists should be aware of this potential complication.