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Use of laser energy to treat central pulmonary emboli: A preliminary report
Author(s) -
Silverman Jeffrey M.,
Julien Peter J.,
Adler Louis,
Fishbein Michael C.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.1900130510
Subject(s) - excimer laser , medicine , laser , coaxial , pulmonary artery , perforation , catheter , radiology , surgery , biomedical engineering , materials science , optics , physics , electrical engineering , punching , metallurgy , engineering
We evaluated the ability and safety of a laser fiber placed percutaneously into a pig's lobar pulmonary artery to lyse pulmonary artery blood clots that were created in situ. We developed a model to create blood clots in situ that could be placed in any desired location with a radio‐opaque marker at the clot position. An excimer laser delivered energy to a flexible 600 μm fiber in three experiments and a coaxial 1.6 mm multifiber catheter in the last experiment Pre‐ and postprocedure angiograms obtained from each experiment demonstrated that partial laser dissolution of central pulmonary emboli in four pigs was accomplished successfully. To avoid perforation, it is imperative that the laser fiber remain coaxial during the entire lasing process. These results suggest that laser dissolution may become an adjunctive procedure for the treatment of central pulmonary emboli in those patients who cannot be treated medically. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.