The Acute Effect of Argon Laser-Heated 'Hot Balloon' Angioplasty

Abstract

The percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is currently a widely accepted procedure in the treatment of patients with ischemic heart disease. However, an occasional occurrence of abrupt closure and relatively high incidence of restenosis following PICA still remains problematic. Although the mechanism of restenosis is unclear, increased plaque disruption may be a contributory mechanism. So smoothing the luminal surfaces and reducing the elastic properties with the use of tissue-welding effects of thermal balloon angioplasty could be beneficial.We therefore studied the immediate effects of controlled heat application to the vessels using a newly developed argon laser-heated 3.0mm×20mm hot balloon catheter (HBA). Acute effects of HBA on normal arterial lumen in comparison with those of balloon angioplasty (BA), 5 rabbits were subjected to HBA of an external iliac artery with 15 sec laser irradiation and BA of the contralateral artery with 2 minutes. Angiography was performed before and immediately after HBA/BA. HBA-treated arteries showed an increase in diameter over that of BA-treated arteries. Scanning electron microscopic examination of the endothelium showed less platelets adhered on HBA-treated arteries compared with BA-treated arteries. No evidence of spasm or thrombosis was observed.[Conclusion] HBA decreases vessel elasticity at the dilation site and increase luminal diameter acutely and might induce less mural thrombus than BA chronically.