Peripheral Vascular Disease

Treating Peripheral Vascular Disease
The following, which include among the most advanced state-of-the-art technology available, are treatment options for treating peripheral vascular disease (PVD.)

Angioplasty with Stent Replacement 
This procedure for PVD uses a special catheter with a balloon that is inflated to open blockages so that one or more stents - an artificial ‘tube’ – can be inserted into the artery to help restore proper blood flow to the artery. 

Intra Vascular Ultra Sound (IVUS)
This PVD treatment option is an interventional imaging technique used by vascular specialists to navigate through arteries to the obstructed segment so that it can be viewed and the blockage measured. IVUS is used together with angiography during interventional procedures to treat PVD. 

Peripheral Laser Atherectomy 
During this procedure, also done on an outpatient basis, a catheter that emits high energy light — a laser – is used to unblock an artery. The catheter is maneuvered through the vessel until it reaches the blockage. Laser energy is used to essentially vaporize the blockage and restore blood flow inside the vessel.  The laser can be used to even reach small vessels in the feet which is key in treating blockages in patients with diabetes who are coping with PVD disease, too.  

The Lightbox
Patients who do not benefit from medication, exercise therapy, and other types of minimally invasive surgeries used to treat PVD are good candidates for the procedure using the Lightbox system. Navigating and opening complicated blockages without damaging the artery blocked by plaque had been a challenge until Lightbox. 

What Is Restenosis?
Restenosis, or blockage of the stent, occurs in 40 to 60 percent of the time due to the body’s response to injury caused by the stent implanted to treat PVD Procedures such as laser atherectomy, are the new standard for treating such cases.