Transcarpal Is the Wrong Term

Transcarpal Cardiac Catheterization by Dr. med. Dipl. med. inf. Torsten Schwalm in volume 42/2009

In the review article, access through the distal forearm arteries for cardiac catheterization was termed “transcarpal.” The carpus, however, refers to the group of 8 bones that constitute the wrist.

The radial artery and the ulnar artery are punctured on the distal forearm and not on the hand. The cited literature refers to “transradial” or “transulnar”, which is correct. The term “transcarpal” is therefore wrong.

It would be interesting to find out whether, in view of the many variations of the arteries of the forearm and the palmar arches, different side effects after puncture of the more easily accessible radial artery than the ulnar artery have been described in the literature.
DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2010.0198a

Prof. Dr. med. Reinhard Pabst
Zentrum Anatomie, Immunmorphologie
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
30625 Hannover, Germany
[e-mail]

Conflict of Interest statement
The author declares that no conflict of interest exists according to the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

References

1. Schwalm T: Transcarpal cardiac catheterization [Transcarpale Herzkatheteruntersuchung]. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(42): 685–91.