A Novel Technique to Reduce Contrast Exposure During Subclavian Interventions

We describe a novel technique to minimize total body contrast exposure during endovascular angiography. A patient with severe renal impairment and history of contrast-induced nephropathy was referred for subclavian artery intervention. Angiography and intervention was performed via transfemoral access, while a transradial sheathless-guiding catheter was used to aspirate injected contrast/blood mix from the downstream axillary artery. Semiquantitative analysis indicated approximately 50% of the injected contrast was retrieved. Adaptation of this simple strategy could be considered for selected coronary, lower extremity, and carotid procedures, using contrast removal techniques from the coronary sinus, femoral, and jugular veins.