This technique is useful for removing bulky plaques. It is often useful in long blockages which contain calcium deposits. Plaques are vaporized by high intensity laser energy delivered in a controlled manner from the end of a catheter. These are small, thin stainless steel mesh cylinders which are mounted on a balloon and delivered to the site of blockage in a heart artery. The balloon is then inflated thereby stretching the stent and delivering it to the wall of the artery.
Stents act as scaffolds within the heart arteries.
The New Mexico Heart Institute also has a Peripheral Vascular Program. This technique was introduced in the early 1990's and has made it possible for many patients to be cured of tachycardia, or a rapid heart rhythm disturbance. Prior to the introduction of ablation therapy, patients either faced open heart surgery or a lifetime of taking heart rhythm medicines to avoid having tachycardia. An electrophysiologic study is needed first to discover where the tachycardia arises within the heart. Once the tachycardia circuit is located, high energy radio waves are delivered through the tip of an ablation catheter causing a small, controlled burn of the heart tissue involved in the arrhythmia, thereby cutting the circuit.