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St. Luke’s new FDA-approved procedure breaks up heart blockages like kidney stones
Dawn Ouellette Nixon//April 19, 2021
St. Luke’s new FDA-approved procedure breaks up heart blockages like kidney stones
Dawn Ouellette Nixon//April 19, 2021//
Dr. Christopher Sarnoski, medical director of the structural heart program at Bethlehem’s Saint Luke’s University Health Network, is breaking up heart artery blockages using a method similar to those used to break up kidney stones.
The technique, approved by the FDA in February, according to SLUHN, involves threading a thin wire into a patient’s coronary artery and positioning a special balloon called the Shockwave IVL at the site of the blockage.
IVL stands for intravascular lithotripsy. This procedure can open up the vessel to increase heart function and decrease chest pain and shortness of breath, according to the health network.
Before the new technology was approved, fragmentation of these particles was done with atherectomy devices, or so called “Roto-rooter drills,” the health network said, and posed a slight increased risk of blood vessel rupture.
Dr. Sarnoski calls the new technology potentially “game-changing,” and ideal for high-risk patients who cannot undergo heart bypass surgery or conventional treatments.
