Complex Coronary Angioplasty:
Dr P K Goel, the Director of interventional cardiology at Medanta Hospital Lucknow and formerly the head of cardiology at SGPGIMS Lucknow, informs that Complex coronary angioplasty is indicated for patients who have undergone coronary angiography and have been diagnosed as left main or triple vessel disease with heavy calcification.
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What is complex coronary angioplasty?
Dr. P K Goel: Complex coronary angioplasty is essentially, a term recently used by interventional cardiologists to describe the new technology that opens up blocked arteries for patients, and achieves long-term results in ways that were not possible before
When
is this type of procedure necessary?
Dr. P K Goel: It's necessary because in previous years the type of disease and blocked arteries were impossible to open percutaneously, or by microsurgery. These patients were often referred to open heart surgery.
Now,
patients are getting older and more frail, and many of these patients who have
complex coronary disease aren't suitable to have open heart surgery but the new
technology has enabled us now to be able achieve good long-term successful
results in complex coronary disease in patients who were previously not seen as
suitable for open heart surgery.
It's necessary because it provides excellent results and very good
quality of life for patients, in ways which were not possible before.
How
are complex coronary angioplasty performed?
Dr. P K Goel: Complex
coronary intervention is performed in the same way as any simple coronary
intervention. It's all through a keyhole puncture in the wrist, often.
Sometimes we use two punctures, or one depending on the type of procedure we're
going to do.
Then,
the techniques used often involve using technology of calcium modification, or
wires to open up coronary arteries, and so on, as well as new microcatheters
and new techniques.
How
long does it take to recover from this type of procedure?
Dr. P K Goel: Most
patients will recover from complex coronary intervention in the same day; most
of the patients can go home four to six hours after the procedure. So, if we
finish early the patient can go home on the same day. In certain cases, where
it's finished late in the day or it was a long procedure, the patient can stay
overnight and go home the next day to resume normal life almost immediately
after that.
How
has this type of surgery evolved in recent years?
Dr. P K Goel: The
world of coronary intervention has evolved incredibly fast in recent years.
This is mainly because of the availability of: