WellSpan cardiologists now can open up severely calcified heart blockages with a new tool: sound waves.
When bypass surgery is not an option or patients have had failure of their bypass grafts, some people with severe arterial calcifications may find relief with intravascular lithotripsy via Shockwave technology. “Shockwave provides a safe alternative to surgery for treating some of the sickest patients with the worst coronary artery disease,” says Rhian Davies, DO, MS, FACC, FSCAI, interventional cardiologist at WellSpan Cardiology and Director of Complex Coronary at WellSpan Health. “There’s very low risk associated with it, and very good outcomes, so it gives new options to a lot of patients.”
How Shockwave Works
Following the success of using lithotripsy to break up kidney stones, Shockwave was developed with similar technology. A physician threads a balloon containing lithotripsy emitters into the blocked artery, where ultrasonic frequencies then break up calcifications, allowing for a stent placement. For severely blocked arteries, rotational atherectomy would be indicated, often followed by Shockwave.
“Any patient with severe coronary disease who has calcified blockages that are difficult to modify with standard balloons could be a good candidate for Shockwave,” Dr. Davies says.
Patients who are prone to heavily calcified, hardened blockages includes people with diabetes, high cholesterol, and smokers. As we age, our risk of calcium development within our coronary arteries significantly increases, Davies said. In fact, after the age of 70, men have a 90% chance of calcified arteries and women have more than a 60% chance.
"If you have a lot of calcium, it's harder to do the bypass, and you can be a less than ideal candidate for surgery," Davies says. "This gives us an opportunity to help patients who previously were told they could not have procedures done. We can open their arteries and they don't have to have surgery."
Shockwave at WellSpan Health
Cardiologists have already completed more than 1,000 Shockwave treatments at WellSpan York Hospital, WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital and WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital. The technology will soon be in use at WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital and WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital. Some locations also offer Shockwave for peripheral arterial calcifications in the legs.
“Many patients are turned down for treatment at other facilities due to having complex disease,” Dr. Davies says. “This is why WellSpan Health strives to provide advanced treatments such as Shockwave to the community.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. The type of heart disease treated by Shockwave, coronary artery disease, is the most common kind of heart disease, killing almost 383,000 patients in the U.S. in 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. About 20 percent of those deaths occur in adults less than 65 years old.
Please call the Complex Coronary Program Coordinator at 717-851-5801 to learn more.