Memorial Satilla Health now offers a new treatment option for patients with severely calcified coronary artery disease. The new technology uses sonic waves to treat problematic calcium in the coronary arteries.
Intravascular Lithotripsy is an innovative advanced technology that can alleviate blockages and restore blood flow. The therapy leverages a similar minimally invasive approach embraced by physicians for decades to treat kidney stones, which are also made up of calcium.
“We are excited to offer this treatment,” said Dr. Timothy Catchings, cardiologist. “The sonic pressure waves produced when performing Intravascular Lithotripsy give us a safe treatment option to break up calcified plaque, with potentially less risk of injury to the vessel compared to other treatments.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Each year, more than 600,000 people in the United States die of heart disease. As people with heart disease, specifically coronary artery disease, grow older and their disease progresses, plaque in the arteries evolves into calcium deposits, which can narrow the artery. Physicians often use stents to open an artery, and of the approximately one million patients that undergo a stent procedure each year, 30 percent have problematic calcium that increases their risk for adverse events.
Calcium makes the artery rigid and more difficult to reopen with conventional treatments, including balloons, which attempt to crack the calcium when inflated to high pressure, and atherectomy, which drills through the calcium to open the artery. The new technology allows physicians to fracture the problematic calcium - using sonic pressure waves - so that the artery can be safely expanded, and blood flow is restored with the placement of a stent and without unnecessary complications.
“Our cardiology team is committed to giving our patients access to the latest cardiovascular innovations to treat heart disease,” said Dr. Eduardo Venegas. “It is exciting to be starting a new chapter in the treatment of heart disease in some of our most complex patient cases.”