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November 17, 2003
New Device Provides
Hope for Severe Leg Pain
Oklahoma
City—Oklahoma Heart Hospital was selected as one of the top facilities
in the country to use a new FDA-approved device that actually cleans out
large amounts of plaque from clogged arteries in the leg. Instead of
stents or angioplasty, both methods that stretch the artery and push
plaque up against artery walls, the SilverHawk Plaque Excision System
removes plaque altogether.
“We’ve had some
patients who have peripheral vascular disease who couldn’t even walk
from their living room to the kitchen because of the pain in their legs,
but after undergoing this procedure, they can walk without pain,” said
Dr. Jim Melton, peripheral vascular surgeon at Oklahoma Heart Hospital.
“By extracting the plaque, we open up the arteries so blood can flow
freely and provide oxygen to the extremities. When arteries become
blocked, they get little oxygen, and patients sometimes experience
excruciating pain.”
Blockages in
the legs have long presented a problem because plaque tends to build up
along the entire length of the artery, making it hard to use stents or
angioplasty because they generally target a small section of the artery.
Even when stents or angioplasty are used, the arteries tend to re-narrow
with time.
The SilverHawk—the
only device of its kind available—uses a tiny rotating blade to shave
plaque from artery walls. The device acts somewhat like a lawnmower,
first cutting the plaque, and then like a trash compactor, the plaque is
compressed into the nose cone of the device and removed.
“We’re cleaning
out the plaque instead of pushing it up against the wall,” said Dr.
Melton. “With this device, we are able to address the problem which is
the buildup of plaque.”
Of nearly 10
million people with peripheral vascular disease in the United States,
some 100,000 undergo amputations each year due to end stages of the
disease. Others face open bypass surgery in the legs. In contrast,
plaque excision is a minimally invasive procedure, routinely performed
on an outpatient basis. Because the device is the only one of its kind
and is in great demand, and Oklahoma Heart Hospital takes part in
critical heart research and the latest treatments, Oklahoma Heart
Hospital was selected to be among the first facilities to use it.
Oklahoma Heart
Hospital is also taking part in a national registry that will analyze
plaque collected by the SilverHawk device to determine if potential
genetic markers may help better predict cardiovascular risk.
Oklahoma Heart
Hospital, the first all-digital hospital in the nation, is a partnership
between Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates and Mercy Health Center,
along with other cardiovascular physicians.
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