Excimer laser in acute myocardial infarction: Single centre experience on 66 patients

A case of very late thrombosis of bare metal stent successfully treated with Excimer Laser Coronary Angioplasty

“…ELCA has been demonstrated to be an effective tool in preventing distal embolization even in the presence of particularly friable plaques or thrombotic substrate [3], by producing thrombotic fragments smaller that eritrocytes not capable of obstruct the microvascular bed. Taken together, these mechanisms may explain the low rate of no-reflow obtained by ELCA in recent studies [4,5] and the favourable effect on coronary flow in our case.…”

“…In particular when interacting with a thrombotic substrate laser is able to dissolve the thrombus with the mean size of the particles produced of less than 7 µm which do not obstruct the microcirculation [3]. Accordingly, the rate of no-reflow associated with the use of laser in patients admitted for STelevation myocardial infarction (MI) and treated by primary PCI was low in recent studies [4,5]. Interestingly, ELCA is able to debulk also neointima of in-stent restenosis [6].…”

Comparison of 0.9-mm and 1.4-mm catheters in excimer laser coronary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction

“…Sometimes referred to as photoablation, ELCA uses ultraviolet light to vaporize or debulk atherosclerotic plaque and thrombus [1,2]. ELCA has been shown to be feasible and safe for the treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) [3][4][5][6].…”

Treating Total Occlusions: Applying Force for Recanalization

“…Lasers (In use for peripheral and coronary chronic occlusions): A laser for plaque resection and removal was first described in 1984. A currently available laser for recanlizing CTOs is the CVX-300 excimer laser system (Spectranetics, Colorado Springs, CO; a pulsed xenon monochloride excimer laser, with a wavelength of 308 nm, pulse duration of 125-200 ns, a repetition rate of 25-80 Hz, and an energy level of 30-80 mJ/mm 2 ; in use for peripheral and coronary chronic occlusions) [96,159,160] in combination with the Excimer Laser Coronary Atherectomy (ELCA) Laser catheter (Spectranetics, Colorado Springs, CO) [161] or TURBO Elite Laser Atherectomy Catheter (Spectranetics, Colorado Springs, CO) (FDA approved since 2006) [7]. Furthermore, the general use of catheterintegrated lasers is described for clot disruption in [162][163][164] (see Fig.…”