ROTABLATION ANGIOPLASTY OF A CALCIFIED LAD CORONARY ARTERY
This elderly man came to me with burning chest pain, which he had been self-medicating with antacids. On evaluation with an angiogram he had a 90% block with lot of calcium deposits on his LAD artery of his heart. As calcified blocks are stone-like and do not open-up with conventional balloon angioplasty, the patient needed a special device called ROTABLATOR and ROTABLATION, which is a drill which rotates at 200,000 rotations per minute inside the artery and drills away the calcium. Thereafter, they dilate easier with regular balloons and a stent can be placed.
To confirm the presence of calcium, I used a new technology called OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY (OCT), which uses near-infrared light to visualize the inside of the artery. This is done by passing this optic-fibre camera inside the artery.
Once I confirmed calcium, I performed Rotablation with a 1.5 mm BURR and deployed a stent, with excellent results as can be seen in the video. The patient is now free from his burning chest pain and his tread-mill at follow-up is negative for ischemia or normal.
DR BINOY JOHN MD DM (CARDIOLOGY) FCSI FACC FESC FSCAI FAPSIC
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