The use of excimer laser for complex coronary artery lesions.
Excimer laser coronary atherectomy (ELCA) has been used for coronary intervention for more than 20 years. Advances in delivery systems for laser energy using the xenon-chlorine pulsed laser catheter deliver higher energy density with lower heat production. The Spectranetics CVX-300 (Spectranetics, Colorado Springs, CO, USA) excimer laser catheter system has been used for the treatment of complex coronary lesions. We report our experience with the use of this advanced system for stenoses for which were unsuitable for standard percutaneous coronary intervention; for example, balloon-resistant lesions, chronic total occlusions, and for underexpanded stents in calcified lesions. ELCA may also be valuable for thrombus-containing lesion. We find ELCA to be indispensable in the catheterization laboratory for specific complex or calcified lesions. Its role should be explored in a large randomized trial of thrombus containing lesions and saphenous vein grafts.
Manchester Heart Centre, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK.
Itsik
I
Ben-Dor
Gabriel
G
Maluenda
Augusto D
AD
Pichard
Lowell F
LF
Satler
Robert
R
Gallino
Joseph
J
Lindsay
Ron
R
Waksman
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017225:Atherectomy, Coronary / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000628:therapy; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D054059:Coronary Occlusion / Q000628:therapy; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000628:therapy; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000628:therapy; D003328:Coronary Thrombosis / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D054018:Lasers, Excimer; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional