Angina sufferers get light relief

17 Jun 2002

Five-year study confirms that carbon dioxide laser therapy relieves patients of angina pains.

Angina relief

Using a laser to create channels in the heart is a technique employed by surgeons to relieve patients from the chest pains that accompany angina. However a five-year study claims that this technique, known as transmyocardial revascularization (TMR), is only works with a carbon dioxide laser (Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association 104:I-81 2001).

"The carbon dioxide heart laser is the only TMR laser to demonstrate effective, sustained, long-term angina relief to severely debilitated heart patients," said study leader Keith Horvath of the US Northwestern University Medical School. "Angina relief from carbon dioxide revascularization continues for five years and beyond."

Angina is a symptom of heart disease that occurs when blocked blood vessels restrict blood flow to some part of the heart, leaving it starved of oxygen. Carbon dioxide TMR, pioneered by US-based PLC Medical Systems, is believed to relieve a patient's angina pain by increasing blood flow to the heart.

PLC System's so-called carbon dioxide heart laser works by vaporizing tissues layer by layer to create between 20 and 40 1mm channels through the wall of the heart. The company believes that its technique is better than alternative TMR methods because it is quicker and less damaging.

"Other lasers such as [pulsed 2100nm] holmium lasers need multiple pulses to create one channel," said a company spokesperson. "Our technique creates channels in a single pulse, while maintaining tissue integrity to help healing."

The five-year study backs PLC Systems' claims reporting that 68 % of angina patients treated with the therapy experienced long-term angina relief. "These results are directly attributable to the favorable interaction between the carbon dioxide laser and the tissue of the heart," said Horvath.

"Publishing the five-year angina relief data represents a clinical milestone," added PLC Systems' chief executive Mark Tauscher. "We believe that the long-term therapeutic effects of carbon dioxide revascularization positions this TMR therapy as a standard of care for heart patients."