Use of therapeutic ultrasound in percutaneous coronary angioplasty. Experimental in vitro studies and initial clinical experience.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown the feasibility of peripheral arterial ultrasound angioplasty. METHODS AND RESULTS In this report, we describe the use of percutaneous therapeutic ultrasound for coronary angioplasty. In vitro, 11 postmortem, atherosclerotically occluded coronary arteries were obtained to assess catheter-delivered ultrasound for arterial recanalization as well as for assessment of the size of particulate debris. Clinically, coronary ultrasound angioplasty was performed in 19 patients (mean age, 56 years) to assess safety and feasibility for the treatment of obstructive coronary atherosclerosis. Three patients with unstable angina and 16 with exercise-induced myocardial ischemia were treated with a prototype 4.6F coronary catheter ultrasound ablation device with a 1.7-mm diameter ball tip. The ultrasound coronary catheter delivered ultrasound energy at 19.5 kHz, with a power output of 16 to 20 W at the transducer. Energy is delivered in a pulsed mode with a 50% duty cycle of 30 milliseconds. Patients were treated for a mean of 493 seconds (range, 130 to 890) with intracoronary ultrasound ablation. All lesions were treated with adjunctive balloon angioplasty. All 11 postmortem coronary occlusions were recanalized, and 99% of the particulates generated were < 10 microns in diameter. We found that after ultrasound, mean (+/- SD) coronary arterial stenosis fell from 80 +/- 12% to 60 +/- 18% (P < .001) and to 26 +/- 11% (P < .001) after adjunctive balloon angioplasty. Mean pressures required to achieve full balloon inflation were 2.7 atm (range, 1 to 5.5) with a median of 3.0-mm balloon size (2.5 to 3.5). No ultrasound-related complications were identified. CONCLUSIONS Intracoronary ultrasound plaque ablation appears to be safe. Our findings suggest that catheter-delivered high-intensity, low-frequency ultrasound may be useful for lesion debulking and enhancing arterial distensibility, allowing balloon dilation at relatively low pressures.