title: Preliminary results of intraoperative excimer laser angioplasty: phase 1: an adjunct to coronary artery bypass surgery.
abstract: The excimer laser underwent phase I clinical trials at three centers to determine its safety for intraoperative coronary laser angioplasty as an adjunct to coronary artery bypass grafting. A 308-nm Xenon-Chloride, pulsed-wave excimer laser was used to perform angioplasty in 30 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. Forty vessels (30 patients) were treated, in which the extent of occlusion ranged from 30% to 100%, with complete occlusion in 40% of all vessels. Improvement in vessel luminal caliber was achieved in 33 (79%) vessels, with perforations occurring in 4 (12%) vessels, 2 of which required surgical repair. The lumens of the remaining 8 (19%) vessels were not enlarged, and 2 (5%) of these vessels were perforated. Luminal enlargement was most often achieved in totalled occluded vessels in which 16/17 (94%) were recanalized. No patients died within 30 days postoperatively. Five patients demonstrated biochemical and electrocardiographic evidence of myocardial injury 48 hr postoperatively, and one patient died of cardiac arrest 139 days postoperatively. On the basis of these results, we believe that excimer laser angioplasty can be performed safely to improve coronary luminal patency, even in totally occluded vessels, in an operative setting. The long-term value of this procedure remains to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Cullen Cardiovascular Research Laboratories, Texas Heart Institute, Houston 77225-0345.
authors.forename: O H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Diethrich
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Conger
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Burnett
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bylock
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kadipasaoglu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods; D016342:Angioplasty, Laser / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014654:Vascular Patency