Successful contemporary reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking without contrast medium: a case report

BACKGROUND: Contrast-induced acute kidney injury is one of the common adverse events related to percutaneous coronary intervention and a predictor for worse outcome. In the setting of percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion, large amounts of contrast medium, more than 200–400 mL, are generally injected. A higher dose of contrast medium causes contrast-induced acute kidney injury more frequently. Therefore, patients who undergo chronic total occlusion-percutaneous coronary intervention are at risk for contrast-induced acute kidney injury. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 77-year-old Japanese man with post-acute myocardial infarction angina pectoris, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion in his right coronary artery. In the procedure, the retrograde wire was a visible penetration mark that made contrast medium unnecessary. Contemporary reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking was successfully achieved and stents were implanted without contrast medium. Contrast medium was injected two times after stent implantation to confirm coronary flow and no perforation. The total amount of contrast medium was only 8 mL for chronic total occlusion-percutaneous coronary intervention. CONCLUSION: Chronic total occlusion-percutaneous coronary intervention with contemporary reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking without contrast medium may be safe and feasible in selected patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13256-018-1918-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.