ACI Doctors Clear Coronary Artery Blockage Using Diamond-Coated Drill

ACI doctors removed the calcium deposited in the coronary artery by grinding it into fine powder inside the veins with the help of a diamond coated drill device

At the Advanced Cardiac Institute located at Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, affiliated to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Raipur, the calcium deposited in the arteries of two heart patients was removed through the orbital atherectomy procedure and blood flow in the heart was facilitated. Atherectomy is a procedure that is used to open calcified blocks (plaques) before angioplasty. It has a 1.25 mm diamond-coated drill device that turns calcium into fine particles of about two micron size. In simple words, it crushes calcium and turns it into fine particles. Through this method, blood flow is facilitated by thoroughly cleaning the arteries. Orbital atherectomy is used to treat patients with heavily calcified coronary arteries.

In this procedure, a diamond coated bur rotating on its axis is inserted inside the artery through a thin catheter which slowly grinds out the calcified surface and makes the artery surface smooth. Blood flows easily in this smooth surface which reduces the chances of heart attack.

Health Minister Shri Shyam Bihari Jaiswal congratulated the team for the successful treatment of the patients and said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnudev Sai, health facilities are expanding rapidly in the state. The experienced and dedicated team of cardiologists at ACI has started a new treatment facility for heart patients through the Coronary Orbital Atherectomy method. ACI has achieved success by using this technique in the government hospital. The innovations being done by the ACI team in the direction of treatment of heart disease are creating new hopes of a good life in the patients.

Giving detailed information about the case, cardiologist Dr. Smit Srivastava said that the 77-year-old co-morbid elderly patient from Raipur had problems of BP, sugar and also the pumping capacity of his heart was very low. The angiography report showed calcium deposits in the left main and three veins of the heart. Due to this, it was not possible to do angioplasty with the normal angioplasty method. In such a situation, angioplasty was done by removing calcium through the orbital atherectomy procedure. On the other hand, the 68-year-old patient from Bhilai had calcium deposits in his veins. Angiography was done in an outside hospital. Bypass surgery was suggested there. The patient came to ACI with the suggestion from there and in ACI, due to excessive calcium deposits in his left side main vein, angioplasty was successfully done using the orbital atherectomy method. The patient recovered and went home within a day.

What is Orbital Atherectomy Procedure?
Assistant Professor of Cardiology Dr. Kunal Ostwal informed that in the Orbital Atherectomy procedure, a thin catheter is inserted into the artery. This catheter has a rotating diamond-coated bur (rough surface of any instrument or metal) which rotates 360 degrees on a special circular axis and scrapes off the calcium deposited inside the veins. By breaking or grinding the calcium deposits, this procedure creates a smooth surface for blood flow, which facilitates angioplasty and stent placement and reduces the chances of blockages. This method is adopted in such veins in which angioplasty and stenting cannot be done in the normal way. It breaks the calcium into such small pieces that it passes out through the capillaries of the artery.