Washington Hospital Center Performs First TMR Surgery With PLC Systems’ Next-Generation CO2 Heart Laser 2(TM)
PLC Systems Inc. (Amex: PLC), the leader in carbon dioxide (CO2) transmyocardial revascularization (TMR), announced that on March 12, 2001, Dr. Stephen Boyce, Director of Heart Transplant and Circulatory Assist Device Programs at The Washington Hospital Center performed the first TMR surgery using PLC’s next-generation CO2 Heart Laser 2. Dr. Boyce performed TMR on a 57 year-old man from West Virginia with complicated coronary artery disease.
Dr. Boyce stated, “Having performed the first TMR surgery with the next-generation CO2 Heart Laser 2, I am pleased to report that the patient treated with the laser tolerated the procedure well and was discharged home four days later, following an uneventful post-operative course. He is currently two weeks post-op and remains angina free at home. Based on my five-year experience of performing TMR with the CO2 heart lasers, the CO2 Heart Laser 2 appears to demonstrate the same clinical performance of the first generation laser. The current modifications of the next-generation laser provide improved versatility in surgical technique and mobility within the OR.”
The CO2 TMR therapy is a surgical procedure that improves blood flow to the myocardium of the left ventricle of the heart, which relieves chest pain in severely debilitated heart patients. A cardiac surgeon utilizes the laser to create approximately 20 to 40 channels to allow oxygen-rich blood to reach previously deprived areas of the patient’s heart. To date, PLC’s heart laser is the only TMR laser to post-operatively demonstrate increased perfusion, which is an objective measurement of increased blood flow in patients.
“We are pleased that the patient is angina free and on the road to recovery,” stated PLC Systems’ President and CEO Mark R. Tauscher. “The introduction of the CO2 Heart Laser 2 is an important milestone in PLC’s efforts to leverage our technological expertise to address the needs of cardiac surgeons. We believe the mobility of our next-generation laser is pivotal for increasing adoption of the TMR therapy by all cardiac surgeons at each site.”
Washington Hospital Center is a 907-bed, acute care teaching and research hospital based in Northwest Washington, D.C. It is the largest private hospital in the nation’s capital and has the thirteenth-highest patient volume in the United States. The Hospital Center is home to the nation’s third- largest cardiac program. It also has a comprehensive Cancer Institute; a full range of women’s services; an extensive organ transplant program; one of the nation’s top shock/trauma centers; and the most advanced burn center in the region.
PLC is the leader in the development of products for performing a surgical laser procedure known as CO2 TMR. TMR offers a treatment option for patients who suffer from severe coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death in the United States and Europe, is expected to increase as the worldwide population continues to age. Since 1990, PLC’s Heart Laser has treated more than 7,000 patients.
For more information on PLC and its products, please visit the Company’s Web site at www.plcmed.com.
