Axillary artery access for cardiac interventions in newborns

Vascular access is an extremely important issue for successful interventional therapy in critical congenital heart diseases, particularly in the newborns. The axillary artery access for demanding interventions in newborns is rarely described, despite its many obvious advantages.[1-3] Two major types of congenital heart diseases that might be treated with an improved success rate by axillary access are: newborns with duct-dependent pulmonary blood flow having a critically or totally obstructed ventricular-pulmonary connection particularly with a tortuous duct inserting at the inner curve of the aortic arch opposite to the origin of the left or the right subclavian artery; and the neonates or even premature newborns with critical aortic valve stenosis with or without aortic coarctation.