Inserted blade clears artery
NZPA-AP Milwaukee A tiny rotating blade device was inserted surgically and used to slice away plaque to unclog a patient’s heart artery in a pioneering procedure, a doctor at St Luke Medical Centre in Milwaukee said. A cardiologist, Frank Cummins, said Lawrence Alfson, aged 58, was the first patient in medical history to undergo an atherectomy. The procedure successfully restored blood flow to Mr Alfson’s heart “The hope is that if you actually remove the plaque from the artery, it won’t narrow down again,” Dr Cummins said. Mr Alfson said he had bypass surgery 10 years ago and a vein from his leg was grafted to the heart. Since then he has twice undergone angioplasty — the use of a balloon to open the clogged blood vessel.
Mr Alfson said the experimental atherectomy took about two hours and caused little pain.
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Press, 26 June 1989, Page 10
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144Inserted blade clears artery Press, 26 June 1989, Page 10
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