Noida: A 76-year-old woman with a severely calcified blockage in a major heart artery has been successfully treated using a minimally invasive technique that uses controlled shockwaves to break up hardened calcium deposits before a stent is placed.The woman had a severe narrowing in the proximal left anterior descending (LAD) artery, one of the heart’s main blood vessels. These blockages can be difficult to treat because calcium deposits can stiffen the artery, preventing a conventional angioplasty balloon from expanding fully, and they may also prevent a stent from opening properly.Doctors at Metro Hospital used a technique called intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) during the angioplasty. In the procedure, a specialised catheter is guided into the blocked artery. Once in position, it delivers controlled shockwaves to the hardened calcium deposits, modifying them and making the artery easier to open.“The presence of extensive calcium can make it difficult to safely open the artery and achieve proper stent expansion,” said Dr Sameer Gupta, senior interventional cardiologist and group director, cardiac cath lab, Metro Group of Hospitals.“We used the Innvolution InnvoLith IVL system to deliver controlled shockwaves within the artery, modifying the calcium and creating a better pathway for treatment,” he said.Doctors used the Innvolution InnvoLith 150-pulse dual-emitter IVL system. According to the hospital, its catheter has six electrodes that provide coverage around the artery, allowing the shockwaves to reach the calcified section.Once the calcium had been modified, doctors performed balloon angioplasty and placed a coronary stent in the narrowed portion of the LAD artery. They then used optical coherence tomography (OCT), an advanced imaging technique that gives doctors a detailed view from inside the artery, to check whether the stent had opened properly.“OCT confirmed excellent stent expansion and good apposition after the intervention,” Gupta said.Doctors said the key challenge in the case was not simply placing a stent, but preparing a heavily calcified artery so that the stent could expand fully.The IVL helped address this problem by modifying the calcium before the balloon angioplasty and stent placement. The procedure is performed through a catheter and does not require open-heart surgery.Doctors said the technique can be particularly useful in technically challenging cases involving extensive calcium build-up in the arteries, which is more commonly seen in older patients.
