We report here the experience of our multidisciplinary group that has been working since 1986 on excimer laser angioplasty. After having selected the excimer laser between the available sources because of the negligible lesions left on the residual tissue, we had the purpose to develop a suitable laser and catheter system. Neglecting here all the preliminary studies, we outline only a typical phenomenon related to the energy delivery and useful for the comprehension of the recanalization process. The energy emitted by every single fiber determines, under a certain threshold, independent recanalized channels in the plaque with residual flaps. At a higher energy level the overposition of the lobes, due to the intrinsic divergence, up to the recanalization in a single large channel. In our opinion this condition is crucial in the design of the catheters to obtain an optical instead of a mechanical recanalization. The biological experimentation conducted during the preliminary tests on human hearts obtained from transplants or cadavers, convinced us that the correct goal to pursue was unique laser angioplasty without the need for further balloon dilation.
|