occluded artery

can anything be done for a totally occluded circumflex artery

[kenkeith]

A highly precise technique has been used with complete success for the first time to open up totally blocked arteries.

“Once the blockage is reached, the tip of the guidewire can burn or ablate a tiny passage through the blockage, allowing us then to use existing techniques to open up the blockage further.
Washington | January 11, 2009 2:35:05 PM IST





Interventional cardiologist Frank Zidar used the new tool at the Austin Heart Hospital last week on a patient with severe peripheral artery disease (PAD) - a 100 percent blockage in a main artery in his leg.

Otherwise, the patient would have continued to experience chronic, severe pain in his leg due to poor circulation, according to experts.

"Traditional treatment for blocked arteries uses manual guidewires to travel through the artery to the area of blockage in the leg. This can be extremely challenging because these guidewires are very difficult to manoeuvre," Zidar said.

"This new magnetic guidewire technology allows for greater control and improved accuracy," he said.

"Once the blockage is reached, the tip of the guidewire can burn or ablate a tiny passage through the blockage, allowing us then to use existing techniques to open up the blockage further