I was having dinner in a gastro pub with a world renowned cancer surgeon from Germany.

He was in Toronto to film a documentary about his treatment of cancer patients with a technique called "regional chemotherapy".

I send patients to Germany for this treatment. It can be very effective. And it is not available in Canada.

Since the cancer surgeon is also a vascular surgeon, he can introduce a catheter (a small pipe) into any artery. He finds the artery supplying the cancer. And then introduces chemotherapy directly into a small pipe leading to the cancer. This can be very effective in killing the cancer.

He was telling me that he felt unwell in early January of this year. He developed angina

(chest pain on exertion). He had trouble doing rounds in his private hospital.

His daughter who is a pediatrician, took him to a heart center in Munich. He had an angiogram. And he was found to have several stenoses (narrowings) of his coronary arteries. The cardiologist was able to stent two arteries. But his main artery, the left anterior descending artery) was essentially closed. The cardiologist could not introduce a stent.

The daughter started to look for a solution to his closed artery. The left anterior descending artery is called the widow maker. She found an Italian cardiologist in Munich who could use the world's smallest drill to drill open the artery. I was amazed as he told me about the treatment. He was awake during the procedure, and he could feel the rapid whirring of the drill. Just like being at the dentist.

The literature calls this procedure a rotatory atherectomy. The cardiologist enters the closed artery and drills it out. The artery in a senior is not soft and gooey. The wall is hard and calcified. The procedure worked, and he is back in the operating room, enjoying his work and keeping up with his team on rounds.

What is rotatory atherectomy? Does it work? Does it work with coronary arteries that are closed? Where can I get it done?

What is it? - Atherectomy Drill>>

Rotational atherectomy involves the use of a device called a rotablator, which has a tiny diamond-coated burr that spins at high speeds (up to 180,000–200,000 RPM). The device ablates or "sands down" the calcium in the artery into micro-particles (<5 microns), allowing better balloon expansion and stent placement.

When is it used?

Severely calcified coronary arteries

Balloon-uncrossable or balloon-undilatable lesions

Chronic total occlusions (CTO), where the plaque burden is very high

In preparation for stenting, when stents can't properly expand due to rigidity

How successful is this procedure?

In a large real-world study of rotatory atherectomy with over 2,800 patients with heavily calcified coronary arteries, the procedure achieved a 90 to 96% procedural success.

How can a patient with an occluded coronary artery access this procedure?

The team at RCM Health has developed relationships in Europe with the most experienced cardiologists using the world's smallest drill to open up occluded coronary arteries.

We will be pleased to assist when you reach out to RCM Health.

To learn more about RCM services:

647-350-5500

info@rcmhealth.ca

Raymond Rupert  

CEO  

RCM Health Consultancy Inc.

www.rcmhealth.ca