DIStal Versus COnventional Radial Access for COMPLEX Large-bore Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

NCT ID: NCT05490238

Last Updated: 2025-12-19

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

708 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-08-31

Study Completion Date

2027-06-01

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The use of the distal radial artery has recently emerged as a promising alternative access route to further reduce the risk of radial artery occlusion (RAO) and has been endorsed by recent International Consensus documents. The feasibility of a distal radial access (DRA) for coronary angiography and/or PCI has been demonstrated in several observational clinical registries and small-sized randomized clinical trials. In the recent prospective, multicenter, open label, randomized, controlled DIStal vs Conventional RADIAL access (DISCO RADIAL) trial, DRA was associated with low and similar rates of RAO at discharge when compared to conventional TRA among patients undergoing coronary angiography and/or PCI. There is however limited evidence on the feasibility and safety of 7F DRA for PCI.

In a prospective, multicenter, observational study including 41 patients undergoing CTO PCI using a left DRA with a 7F GLIDESHEATH SLENDER® (Terumo Corp., Tokyo, Japan), technical success was achieved in 90.3% of patients and procedural success was achieved in 78.1% of patients. No post-procedural DRA RAO were detected by clinical assessment and Doppler ultrasound examination, and no radial artery occlusions at the site of the forearm were found. Doppler ultrasound imaging of the DRA at one month was available in 67.6% of patients, with only one case (4.3%) of DRA RAO. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that DRA using a 7F GLIDESHEATH SLENDER® (Terumo Corp., Tokyo, Japan) for CTO PCI is feasible and associated with a high procedural success rate and low vascular access-site complication rates.

No randomized clinical trial to date has however compared the feasibility and safety of a 7F DRA versus 7F TRA for PCI of complex coronary lesions, such as chronic total occlusions (CTO), left main coronary artery disease, heavily calcified lesions, complex bifurcations, or other complex coronary lesions for whom the operator anticipates that a 7F guiding catheter is indicated.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

The radial artery has become the standard vascular access site for most percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) and is recommended by the most recent 2018 European Society of Cardiology/European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery guidelines on myocardial revascularization, irrespective of clinical presentation. Patients undergoing PCI of complex coronary lesions, such as a chronic total occlusion (CTO), left main (LM) coronary artery disease, complex bifurcation lesions, or heavily calcified lesions, have however been either absent or under-represented in most trials supporting these guidelines.

The small size of the radial artery remains an important limitation for the use of large bore guiding catheters (\>6 F), restricting thereby the treatment of highly complex lesions through the transradial approach. The 7F GLIDESHEATH SLENDER® (Terumo Corp., Tokyo, Japan) is a dedicated radial sheath with a thinner wall and hydrophilic coating. It combines an inner diameter compatible with any 7F guiding catheter and an outer diameter smaller than current 7F sheaths.

A prospective, multicenter, observational study including 60 patients demonstrates that a transradial access (TRA) using the 7F GLIDESHEATH SLENDER® (Terumo Corp., Tokyo, Japan) for complex coronary interventions is feasible and associated with a high rate of procedural success and a low rate of vascular complications.

In the Complex Large-Bore Radial Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (COLOR) randomized trial, 388 patients with planned PCI for complex coronary lesions were randomly allocated to a 7F TRA or 7F transfemoral access (TFA). Conventional TRA was associated with a significant reduction in clinically relevant access- site bleeding or vascular complications without affecting procedural success when compared to TFA among patients undergoing complex PCI with a 7F large bore access.

The use of the distal radial artery has recently emerged as a promising alternative access route to further reduce the risk of radial artery occlusion (RAO) and has been endorsed by recent International Consensus documents. The feasibility of a distal radial access (DRA) for coronary angiography and/or PCI has been demonstrated in several observational clinical registries and small-sized randomized clinical trials. In the recent prospective, multicenter, open label, randomized, controlled DIStal vs Conventional RADIAL access (DISCO RADIAL) trial, DRA was associated with low and similar rates of RAO at discharge when compared to conventional TRA among patients undergoing coronary angiography and/or PCI. There is however limited evidence on the feasibility and safety of 7F DRA for PCI. The potential advantages of DRA when compared to TRA are contrasted by a slightly smaller size of the distal radial artery potentially impacting on device selection and procedural planning and by its less predictable course, due to the pronounced tortuosity and angulation of the vessel, leading to an overall higher number of puncture attempts, a longer time to achieve arterial access and a higher rate of access failure. These limitations may preclude the use of DRA for PCI of complex coronary lesions when a large bore guiding catheter is needed. There is however limited evidence on the feasibility and safety of 7F DRA for PCI.

In a prospective, multicenter, observational study including 41 patients undergoing CTO PCI using a left DRA with a 7F GLIDESHEATH SLENDER® (Terumo Corp., Tokyo, Japan), technical success was achieved in 90.3% of patients and procedural success was achieved in 78.1% of patients. No post-procedural DRA RAO were detected by clinical assessment and Doppler ultrasound examination, and no radial artery occlusions at the site of the forearm were found. Doppler ultrasound imaging of the DRA at one month was available in 67.6% of patients, with only one case (4.3%) of DRA RAO. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that DRA using a 7F GLIDESHEATH SLENDER® (Terumo Corp., Tokyo, Japan) for CTO PCI is feasible and associated with a high procedural success rate and low vascular access-site complication rates.

No randomized clinical trial to date has however compared the feasibility and safety of a 7F DRA versus 7F TRA for PCI of complex coronary lesions, such as chronic total occlusions (CTO), left main coronary artery disease, heavily calcified lesions, complex bifurcations, or other complex coronary lesions for whom the operator anticipates that a 7F guiding catheter is indicated.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Vascular Access Site Occlusion

Keywords

Explore important study keywords that can help with search, categorization, and topic discovery.

Radial artery access Distal radial artery Complex PCI

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Distal radial access

Distal radial access using 7Fr Glidesheath Slender sheath (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Complex PCI with Ultimaster family drug-eluting stent (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Large-bore radial access for complex PCI with Ultimaster family drug-eluting stent (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Conventional radial access

Conventional radial access using 7Fr Glidesheath Slender sheath (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Complex PCI with Ultimaster family drug-eluting stent (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Large-bore radial access for complex PCI with Ultimaster family drug-eluting stent (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Complex PCI with Ultimaster family drug-eluting stent (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Large-bore radial access for complex PCI with Ultimaster family drug-eluting stent (Terumo Corp., Japan)

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Age ≥18 years.
* Patients presenting with CCS or ACS, including unstable angina or NSTEMI.
* Patients planned for PCI of complex coronary lesions, such as CTO, left main coronary artery disease, heavily calcified lesions, complex bifurcations, or other complex coronary lesions in whom the operator anticipates that a 7F guiding catheter is indicated.
* Patients able to provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.
* Patients with cardiogenic shock.
* Patients on chronic hemodialysis.
* Patients with contraindications to TRA, such as occlusive upper arm peripheral artery disease, or known anatomic variants prohibiting TRA on both sides.
* Patients with medical conditions that may cause non-compliance with the study protocol and/or may confound the data interpretation.
* Patients unable to provide written informed consent.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

University of Bern

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

IGLESIAS Juan Fernando

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

IGLESIAS Juan Fernando

Principal investigator

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Juan F. Iglesias, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Hospital, Geneva

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Clinique St. Joseph Arlon - Groupe Vivalia

Arlon, , Belgium

Site Status RECRUITING

CHU Saint-Pierre

Brussels, , Belgium

Site Status RECRUITING

CHU de Charleroi

Charleroi, , Belgium

Site Status RECRUITING

Hôpital de La Louvière - Site Jolimont

La Louvière, , Belgium

Site Status RECRUITING

Agaplesion Bethesda Krankenhaus Bergedorf

Hamburg, , Germany

Site Status RECRUITING

Patras University Hospital

Pátrai, , Greece

Site Status RECRUITING

Humanitas Research Hospital

Milan, , Italy

Site Status RECRUITING

Basel University Hospital

Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Site Status RECRUITING

Geneva University Hospitals

Geneva, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Belgium Germany Greece Italy Switzerland

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Véronique Menoni

Role: CONTACT

Phone: +41795530516

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Karsten Schenke, MD

Role: primary

Maëlle Achard, RN

Role: primary

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Iglesias JF, Leibundgut G, Heg D, Gasparini GL, Tsigkas G, Ungureanu C, Colletti G, Degrauwe S, Xaplanteris P, Schenke K, Achim A, van Leeuwen MA, Muresan M, Saito S, Sgueglia GA, Aminian A. Distal versus conventional radial large-bore access for percutaneous coronary intervention of complex coronary lesions: Rationale and design of the DISCO COMPLEX randomized superiority trial. Am Heart J. 2026 Feb;292:107291. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2025.107291. Epub 2025 Oct 18.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 41115584 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

2022-0729

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id