Chongqing, April 26 news A few days ago, the Department of Cardiology of Xinqiao Hospital of the Army Military Medical University successfully performed excimer laser intracoronary plaque ablation (ELCA) for patients with complex coronary heart disease to help patients reblock vascular channels. It is reported that this is the first time that this advanced new technology has been carried out in Chongqing, adding a treatment method to patients who are difficult to undergo conventional coronary intervention surgery and bringing health gospel to patients with coronary heart disease.
Experts will consult and discuss the condition (courtesy of Xinqiao Hospital)
Uncle Wang, a 66-year-old who lives in Chongqing's Yuzhong District, placed two stents to help unclog blood vessels 8 years ago due to the narrowing of the anterior descending branch of the coronary arteries of the heart. In October last year, Uncle Wang had chest pain and chest tightness symptoms and was sent to the nearest hospital, angiography showed that the blood vessel location where he placed the stent was narrowed again, almost completely occluded, and the doctor used balloon dilation to help dredge the occluded blood vessels in an emergency, relieving the danger. Recently, Uncle Wang suddenly had chest pain and other discomforts, and was admitted to the nearest emergency department, and the doctor temporarily alleviated the condition by using balloon dilation in the emergency situation.
In order to seek further treatment, Uncle Wang came to the Department of Cardiology of Xinqiao Hospital, where experts such as Professor Zhao Xiaohui, Professor Song Yaoming, XieLi Attending Physician, Xiao Han Attending Physician and other experts of the Department consulted and discussed Uncle Wang's condition. It is believed that balloon dilation can only be used as an emergency to temporarily alleviate the disease, blood vessels will be quickly occluded after dilation, in order to fundamentally solve the problem, is to completely open the blood vessels, the use of excimer laser intracoronary plaque ablation (ELCA).
Doctors use ELCA for treatment (Courtesy of Xinqiao Hospital)
During the operation, Professor Zhao Xiaohui led the team to expand the blood vessel again based on the results of coronary angiography and optical coherence imaging (OCT) to repeatedly ablate the middle of the anterior descending branch of the coronary artery using excimer lasers. After laser ablation, the blood flow was significantly improved, the degree of stenosis was also reduced, and then the balloon was used again to expand, there was basically no residual stenosis, the drug balloon was implanted, the stent was not implanted, and the re-examination showed that the blood vessels were unobstructed.
According to the director of the Department of Cardiology, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is one of the main means of coronary heart disease treatment at present, which greatly improves the prognosis of patients with coronary heart disease, but stenosis after interventional treatment has always been a nightmare that they cannot get rid of. Intrastentercular restenosis refers to the loss of lumen in the entire length of the stent and/or in the 5 mm segment at both ends of the stent, resulting in a luminal stenosis ≥50%. Clinically defined as symptomatic redundosis that requires target lesions or target vascular revascularization, manifested by angina or acute myocardial infarction. The traditional treatment options for patients with stent restenosis or occlusion mainly include ordinary balloon dilation, re-stenting and drug-eluted balloon implantation, but vascular restenosis or occlusion may still occur in the later stage.
"Excimer laser intracorular plaque ablation (ELCA) is undoubtedly a more powerful and effective weapon for the traditional treatment of restenosis or occlusion in stents." Professor Zhao Xiaohui of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine of Shimbashi Hospital said that excimer laser ablation is the use of 308 micron pulse gas laser, sending out high-energy pulses to cause the carbon bond break of cells, and the released energy makes the water temperature in the cell rise and cause tissue vaporization to produce pressure, thereby causing rapid expansion and contraction leading to tissue disintegration, etching plaque material, and achieving the effect of improving coronary blood flow. ELCA technology is an emerging technology that has been proven in clinical practice to be the most effective adjunct for the safe management of complex coronary artery lesions, and its indications are very extensive, and can be applied to severe tortuous calcification lesions, venous bridge vascular lesions after surgical bypass surgery, chronic occlusive lesions and intrastentered restenosis lesions. This technique has less trauma, fewer complications, faster healing effects, and is more suitable for elderly intolerant populations.