St. Francis Fine-Tunes Precision PCI Treatment for Chronic Total Occlusions

Precision percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) uses advanced physiology and imaging assessment of one or more coronary lesions before stent implantation and for stent optimization. This provides for a more accurate assessment of coronary plaque distribution and severity.

With St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® already a regional and national leader in precision PCI, hospital physicians also are fine-tuning this approach for chronic total occlusions (CTOs). With the use of precision PCI, physicians can fully analyze the vessel and determine the best treatment strategy.

“Over the years, we have learned that relying on the angiogram alone frequently leads to misjudgments of the severity of a particular blockage as well as the extent of the disease,” said Allen Jeremias, M.D., director of Interventional Cardiology Research and associate director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at St. Francis Hospital. This is especially true for complex and advanced coronary artery disease, Dr. Jeremias added.

“Intravascular imaging is critical in the treatment of CTOs after successful crossing of the occlusion to determine the ideal landing zone for the stent and to appropriately size the stent,” Dr. Jeremias explained. Without intravascular imaging, it is easier to undersize stents during CTO procedures, potentially leading to stent failure over time.

Techniques for CTO treatment continue to rapidly evolve, and newer studies show success rates of 80% to 90%, Dr. Jeremias said. “The safety of these complex procedures is steadily increasing, and in expert hands, the complication rate is exceedingly low,” he added.