Initial angiograms obtained through the femoral artery in the groin showed a tight stenosis which was right at the origin of the subclavian artery. As a result, a guidewire could not be passed through the groin puncture despite several attempts. The brachial route was therefore chosen. A guidewire was passed using a left brachial artery approach through the narrowing. A 5 mm × 4 cm stainless steel stent Genesis (Cordis Endovascular, Warren, NJ, USA) was subsequently deployed and, when ballooned, although it clearly had eliminated the atherosclerotic lesion, the diameter was less than the diameter of the native normal vessel. To improve conformity, the stent was ballooned to 6 mm, which improved the conformity. A good, brisk flow through the stent was confirmed, and the procedure was subsequentlyand other groups in neighbouring Syria.

Saudi Arabia launched a campaign to isolate Qatar earlier this month, cutting diplomatic ties and imposing a blockade, which was followed by other allies.

Against this background of continued tensions, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, held talks in Saudi Arabia with the king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on Friday.

While strongly backing its ally Qatar, Turkey has stopped short of directly criticising Saudi Arabia's actions and called on Riyadh to take a lead role in solving the crisis. "They don't like Qatar's punching above its weight".

"This is far more dramatic than the diplomatic row that occurred in 2014", says Mehran Kamrava, head of the Center for worldwide and Regional Studies at Georgetown University's outpost in the Qatari capital, Doha.

A Gulf official with direct knowledge