Apollo Hospitals, Chennai performed a breakthrough procedure to remove calcified hard blocks in the heart vessels using “Rotashock” or “Rotatripsy” – a combination of ‘shock wave Lithoplasty and Rotablation for the first time in India. The procedure has been introduced and successfully performed by Dr. G. Sengottuvelu, Senior Consultant, Interventional Cardiology, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. One of the most awaited technologies for managing the challenging calcium of coronary arteries, shock wave Lithoplasty has been performed successfully by Dr. Sengottuvelu and team at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai to open a severely blocked artery of an 81-year-old man giving him a new lease of life.
81-year-old Viswanathan from Adambakkam suffered a very hard and calcified artery where conventional balloons even at a higher pressure failed. This is when the team decided to perform a “Rotashock” on the patient. The new technology called Shockwave, uses acoustic sonic waves and the principle of lithotripsy, which is created on extremely low pressures to address the most challenging calcium deposits. Pulsatile sonic pressure waves are delivered through a specialized balloon with this intravascular lithotripsy therapy, which breaks up and softens calcium, without the risk of major injury to the blood vessel. This simple technique of lithotripsy ensures lowest risk rates including perforations/dissections, unlike conventional techniques.
Explaining the challenges in the procedure, Dr. Sengottuvelu, Senior Consultant, Interventional Cardiology, Apollo Hospitals Chennai, said, “There are many times where in complex cases with calcium in coronary arteries residing for over years or decades, it is not possible for the conventional balloons even at extremely high pressures to dilate the lesion and this leads to unsatisfactory results in angioplasties performed. With the advent of Shockwave, the most complex lesions with hard calcium shall be handled in a much simpler way with least rates of adverse events. Shockwave is given by pressing the button of a unique pulse generator which is attached to the console of the system in just 30-40 seconds. Challenging calcium is now just a button away using this safe device.”
Shockwave Lithoplasty has the advantage of modifying deep calcium. This new technology is often used alone, sometimes combining Rotablation, where the delivery of lithoplasty balloon is not achieved. This therapy is advantageous over the existing rotablation as the deep calcium can be penetrated allowing the stents to expand better giving better long term results
