Despite significant improvements in stent design, severe coronary calcification continues to impede adequate stent expansion and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. Angiography is limited in its ability to detect and comprehensively characterise calcified plaque. Intravascular imaging provides information on lesion morphology guiding appropriate treatment strategies. Orbital atherectomy allows for lesion preparation of severely calcified plaque prior to stent implantation. Utilising a unique mechanism of action incorporating centrifugal forces, a standard 1.25 mm eccentrically mounted and diamond-coated burr orbits bi-directionally to ablate calcified plaque. Lesion preparation with orbital atherectomy allows for modification of calcified plaque to facilitate stent expansion.
Keywords: Orbital atherectomy; calcified lesions; lesion preparation; optical coherence tomography; percutaneous coronary intervention.
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