From the Guidelines
The most commonly used coronary wires in the market can be categorized into workhorse wires, support wires, and specialty wires, with varying specifications such as tip load, shaft stiffness, and coating type. The main types of coronary wires include:
- Workhorse wires: suitable for most straightforward cases, with moderate tip loads (0.8-1.5g) and tip stiffness, examples include BMW (Balance Middleweight) and Runthrough NS 1.
- Support wires: offer higher tip loads (3-4.5g) and greater support for delivering equipment through tortuous or calcified vessels, examples include Iron Man and Grandslam 1.
- Specialty wires: include hydrophilic wires like Whisper and Fielder XT with low tip loads (0.8-1.0g) and hydrophilic coatings for crossing tight lesions; chronic total occlusion (CTO) wires like Confianza Pro and Miracle Bros with high tip loads (9-12g) for penetrating tough occlusions; and tapered-tip wires like Fielder XT-A and Gaia with progressively narrowing tips (0.009"-0.014") for navigating microchannels 1. The specifications of these wires typically include:
- Core material: stainless steel or nitinol
- Coating type: hydrophilic, hydrophobic, or polymer
- Tip load: varies depending on the type of wire
- Shaft stiffness: varies depending on the type of wire
- Radiopacity features: varies depending on the type of wire Selection of the appropriate coronary wire depends on lesion complexity, vessel tortuosity, and specific procedural requirements 1.
| Type of Wire | Tip Load | Shaft Stiffness | Coating Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workhorse wires | 0.8-1.5g | Moderate | Hydrophobic or polymer |
| Support wires | 3-4.5g | High | Hydrophobic or polymer |
| Hydrophilic wires | 0.8-1.0g | Low | Hydrophilic |
| CTO wires | 9-12g | High | Hydrophobic or polymer |
| Tapered-tip wires | varies | varies | Hydrophobic or polymer |
From the Research
Types of Coronary Wires
- Polymer-jacketed guidewires 2
- Tapered-tip guidewires 3
- Composite-core guidewires 4
- Dual-coil design guidewires 3
- Stiff guidewires 2
- Soft tapered-tip polymer-jacketed guidewires 5
Specifications of Coronary Wires
| Wire Type | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot 200 | Polymer-jacketed guidewire | 56% of AWE procedures [2] |
| Fielder XT | Polymer-jacketed guidewire | 45% of AWE procedures [2] |
| Confianza Pro 12 | Polymer-jacketed guidewire | 28% of AWE procedures [2] |
| Fielder XT-R | Tapered-tip, low-force guidewire | Part of antegrade approach to coronary CTOs [3] |
| Fielder XT-A | Tapered-tip, low-force guidewire | Part of antegrade approach to coronary CTOs [3] |
| Gaia | Composite-core guidewire | Crossing coronary CTOs using antegrade wire escalation, antegrade dissection/reentry, and retrograde [4] |