Quirónsalud Marbella Hospital has added a new treatment for coronary artery disease to its portfolio of medical treatments
The Cardiology Unit of Quirónsalud Marbella Hospital, headed by Doctor Javier Alzueta and Said Barakat, has added intracoronary lithotripsy to the portfolio of services of the Haemodynamics and Interventionist Cardiology Unit, which is leaded by Doctor Luis Íñigo. The Marbella centre has provided details of the first procedure in which this innovative technology was applied on 11th of June. The patient was a 67-year old gentleman who had been diagnosed an anterior descending coronary artery calcification. "Intracoronary lithotripsy is a recently-developed technique that administers ultrasound pulses (shock waves) by means of a balloon to help break up the calcium of the plaque in coronary artery stenosis with calcification. This procedure is ideal to ensure adequate placement of a stent", Cardiologist Luis Íñigo explained.
The Cardiology Specialist Team involved in this procedure determined that this was the most adequate approach due to the severity of the patient’s artery calcification, the medical condition of whom considerably reduced the chances of success of a standard angioplasty treatment. The expert also pointed out the existence of other associated benefits such as "the device’s ease of assembly or its capacity of fracturing the calcium circumference".
The successful procedure means the implantation in Quirónsalud Marbella Hospital of a "very innovative piece of technology that is currently only available at very few hospitals in Spain", Íñigo highlights. With regards to patient recovery, the Specialist states that this treatment is performed via a simple puncture in the radial artery which allows "the patient to recover as quickly as with any other coronary artery angioplasty treatment, where they are sent home 24 hours later".
According to the data of the Interventionist Cardiology Association of the Spanish Association of Cardiology or ACI-SEC in its Spanish abbreviation, approximately 30 per cent of the patients having a pharmaco-active stent implanted have artery calcification.
In such cases, intracoronary lithotripsy is complementary to the existing techniques, since the treatment of coronary artery stenosis with a high degree of calcification can be complex and is associated with a higher risk of complications and unsuccessful angioplasties.
