Effect of Atherectomy on Lesion Preparation in Heavily Calcified Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of heavily calcified lesions remains challenging. This study examined whether calcified lesion preparation is better with an ablation-based than balloon-based technique. Methods and Results:Results of lesion preparations with and without atherectomy devices were compared in 121 patients undergoing optical coherence tomography (OCT)-guided PCI of heavily calcified lesions. Lesion preparation was performed with the ablation-based technique in 59 patients (atherectomy group) and with the balloon-based technique in 62 patients (balloon group). Lower grades of angiographic coronary dissections (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NHLBI] classification) occurred in the atherectomy than balloon group (atherectomy group: