Most accurate definition of a high femoral artery puncture: aiming to better predict retroperitoneal hematoma in percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Retroperitoneal hematoma (RPH) increases morbidity and mortality in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). High femoral arteriotomy is an independent predictor of RPH, but the optimal angiographic criterion for defining a high puncture is unknown.

Methods: We retrospectively identified 557 consecutive PCI cases with femoral angiograms.