A doctor at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center has had an article on cardiology research published in an industry-leading medical journal, according to an announcement from the Bellingham hospital.
Dr. William Lombardi, an interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at PeaceHealth St. Joseph, co-authored the article, titled “Initial Experience with a Dedicated Coronary Re-Entry Device for Revascularization of Chronic Total Occlusions,” with cardiology leaders from the Cleveland Clinic, Yale-New Haven Medical Center and colleagues from Chile, Japan and California.
The article was published in the medical journal “Catherization and Cardiovascular Interventions,” on behalf of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.
Chronic Total Occlusions, or CTOs, are non-invasive procedures performed to clear the hardest coronary blockages (occlusion) by placing a guide wire within the artery beyond the blockage, to prepare it for restored blood flow.
Lombardi performs more of the complex cardiac interventions than any other specialist in the nation, according to PeaceHealth.
Quick facts: Chronic Total Occlusion
– More than 1.3 million Americans have coronary blockages, restricting blood flow and threatening their lives and diminishing their quality of life.
– About one-third of all patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease do not respond to conventional treatment to clear blockage. Previously, the only option for these CTO patients was open heart surgery, an invasive procedure with high risk factors and a long recovery period.
– To treat a CTO patient with minimally invasive therapy, a physician must first successfully cross the blockage and place the guidewire in the “true” lumen of the artery beyond the occlusion (blockage). Because some CTOs are comprised of hard, rock-like plaque, it can be very difficult for the physician to cross the blockage. Lombardi often receives referrals when such procedures performed elsewhere have been unsuccessful.
– Interventional catheters are designed to navigate highly diseased arteries in preparation for blood flow restoration via angioplasty and stenting.
