Retained percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty equipment components and their management.

Of 5,400 consecutive percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures, 12 patients had complications resulting in retention of 1 or more PTCA equipment components. Eight patients had guidewire fragments retained within the coronary circulation, including one with a second wire segment within the abdominal aorta. A gold band catheter marker was retained within a coronary artery in 1 patient. Four of 5 extraction procedures in these patients were successful, including retrieval of a wire segment totally contained within the distal circumflex coronary artery. Bioptomes were used to retrieve guidewire segments from the abdominal aorta in 4 patients and a knotted guiding catheter from another. At late follow-up, 5 patients with wire segment retained for an extended time within the coronary circulation had no sequelae attributable to the PTCA component debris. We conclude that many fractured intracoronary wires with proximal portion extending into the ascending aorta can be extracted. Guidewire segments retained for a long time totally within the coronary circulation may be benign, particularly when entrapped within total coronary occlusions. Bioptomes can be used effectively to remove wire segments within the abdominal aorta and to assist in the removal of kinked guide catheters.