Excimer Laser Coronary Angioplasty Safe And Effective In Treating Acute Coronary Syndromes
The Spectranetics Corporation announced the publication of an article in the April 1, 2001 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of excimer laser coronary angioplasty to treat a subset of patients with acute coronary syndromes.
The article entitled “Effectiveness of Excimer Laser Coronary Angioplasty in Acute Myocardial Infarction or in Unstable Angina Pectoris” evaluated the feasibility, safety, and acute results of percutaneous excimer laser coronary angioplasty (ELCA) in acute coronary syndromes. Fifty-nine patients were treated with ELCA, including 33 patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and 26 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
The study showed procedural success rates of 100 percent and 97 percent for the AMI and UAP groups respectively. Two thirds of patients in the UAP group (with no presence of thrombus) fall within Spectranetics’ indications for use and were safely and effectively treated with the laser followed by balloon angioplasty. Spectranetics presently contraindicates excimer laser angioplasty in AMI and acute thrombosis. The patients in the AMI group were treated in accordance with accepted medical standards, published medical literature and the Declaration of Helsinki. All patients gave written informed consent.
On Topaz, M.D., FACC, of the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, the lead study investigator, commented: “The findings in the study support the application of excimer laser angioplasty in selected patients with complex lesions who present with acute coronary syndromes. Furthermore, the findings suggest that ultraviolet laser therapy results in thrombus removal and a high procedural success rate with minimal complications. Further study is necessary to compare the laser to other approaches to treat acute coronary syndromes.”
Joseph A. Largey, president and chief executive officer of Spectranetics commented: “This impressive study presents new data supporting the safety and efficacy of excimer laser angioplasty within our six PMA indications in patients with unstable angina. We are interested in the new data presented in the investigators’ research showing that the laser resulted in significant thrombus removal, suggesting direct laser energy absorption and thrombus vaporization.”
Laser catheters used in this study included Spectranetics’ new OS catheter technology. A recent paper in the February 2001 issue of the Journal of Clinical Laser Medicine and Surgery (Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 9-14) by Topaz, et. al. entitled “Optimally Spaced Excimer Laser Coronary Catheters: Performance Analysis” described the improved ablation capability of this new catheter technology. Dr. Topaz commented that “the use of this new technology and the application of appropriate lasing techniques leads to positive clinical results such as those seen in our study published in the American Journal of Cardiology.”
