Deborah Performs Delaware Valley’s First CryoPlasty™
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Deborah Performs Delaware Valley’s First CryoPlasty Victims of peripheral vascular disease have traditionally had few treatment options. With the advent of interventional procedures, more hope now exists. But physicians are keenly aware that even these remarkable procedures - despite the relief they offer to so many patients - have their limitations. In particular, physicians have struggled to overcome high renarrowing and restenosis rates in the superficial femoral artery post intervention. An exciting new option, called CryoPlasty™, now offers physicians tremendous promise in treating femoral blockages with long-lasting results. “This procedure has decreased renarrowing from 85 percent to 15 percent, six to nine months post intervention,” stated Manu Rajachandran, MD, Chair, Department of Endovascular Medicine, Deborah Heart and Lung Center. “For any procedure, this kind of change is remarkably exciting, both for physicians and their patients.” CryoPlasty is performed similarly to standard balloon angioplasty of the superficial femoral artery. A balloon catheter is inserted into the groin and threaded through the vascular system to the blockage. The balloon is then inflated, compressing the blockage against the artery wall. |
What makes CryoPlasty unique is the inflation of the balloon; rather than saline, the balloon is inflated with pressurized liquid nitrous oxide. As the nitrous oxide evaporates, it introduces a cooling reaction in the vessel. This lowers the temperature of the artery in the immediate area of the balloon to between -10 and -15 degrees Celsius. This cooling causes apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in the affected area. It is this controlled cell death that prevents renarrowing and restenosis, surpassing the frustrating limitations of the success of standard balloon angioplasty. “By incapacitating the cells responsible for renarrowing and restenosis, this procedure prevents the reactions that have been an unfortunate occurrence in many patients post intervention,” explained Dr. Rajachandran. “Now, we can offer an interventional procedure with long-lasting results to patients who have been crippled by the pain associated with vascular disease.” “Ms. Dawson is the ideal patient for this procedure,” he explained, “as she has undergone bypass to treat coronary artery disease and has suffered restenosis of the coronary arteries. The severity of her coronary disease also requires that she exercise regularly, which, since her leg pain began, she has not been able to do.” Dr. Rajachandran continued, “Because that same recurrence of symptom was likely to occur elsewhere in her vascular system, Ms. Dawson required a form of peripheral intervention that would minimize or eliminate the possibility of restenosis in her femoral artery. For that reason, I felt strongly that CryoPlasty was her best option.” Dawson underwent the procedure and was discharged in less than 24 hours. Feeling immediate relief of her symptoms, both she and Dr. Rajachandran were initially optimistic of the results. Six months later - at the time of this writing - Dawson is still representative of the remarkable promise of CryoPlasty, as she has no recurrence of symptoms in her legs and has resumed her regular walks and rejoined her champion bowling league. “Several nonsurgical procedures exist to treat peripheral vascular disease, but they have unfortunate limitations in a large number of patients,” commented Dr. Rajachandran. “With the advent of CryoPlasty, physicians can now offer patients a primary treatment with the likelihood of long-term success. I am thrilled to have put Ms. Dawson back on her feet, and hope to do the same for many patients in the future.”™ |
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