ABSTRACT
Objective: Calcified coronaries still remain a major challenge for interventional cardiologist. This study aims to evaluate safety and efficacy of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in management of coronary artery calcification. Methods: This was a retrospective single centre study regarding the utility of IVL in management of calcified coronaries. Patients with hemodynamically stable acute coronary syndrome or symptomatic chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) and calcified coronaries on angiography and who underwent IVL were enrolled. Intravascular imaging was performed wherever feasible. The primary endpoint was procedural success. In addition, data regarding procedural complications were collected. Results: A total of 29 patients underwent IVL with a majority being males and having comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes. A procedural success rate of 93.1% was achieved with no patient having >50% residual stenosis. IVL catheter was successfully delivered in all patients. The mean catheter diameter was 3.3 ± 0.4 mm and mean number of delivered pulses was 70.3 ± 16.4. The arteries most commonly intervened were the left main coronary and the left anterior descending artery. Intracoronary imaging revealed a significant increase in minimum luminal cross-sectional area (MLA) post IVL (preMLA: 5.1 ± 2.5 mm2 ; post-MLA: 10.7 ± 2.9 mm2 ; P<0.001). Two patients had in-hospital MACE in form of peri-procedural non Q-wave MI. No patient had arrhythmias, stent thrombosis, coronary perforation, or slow flow/no-reflow. Two patients had a rupture of IVL balloon while four had coronary artery dissection. Conclusions: IVL is a safe and highly effective modality with high procedural success rate in management of calcified coronaries.