Laser Application to Occlusive Vascular Disease

Laser applications have been increasingly successful in many fields of medicine and may soon occupy an important position in medical therapeutics. In ophthalmology, where the unique non-scattering optical properties of the eye allow for tight focusing of laser light, the conditions of retinal detachment, retinal bleeding, and diabetic neovascularization are routinely treated with lasers. Nevertheless, laser applications to the fields of cardiovascular and peripheral vascular surgery have been minimal. Yet, with increasing technologic advances in percutaneous catheterization, fiber optics, and laser light sources, the potential for laser treatment of occlusive vascular disease is growing. The papers contained within this hardbound book are reprinted from Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, Volume 5, Number 3, 1985. They are largely papers presented at the fourth annual meeting of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, at Salt Lake City, Utah, in June 1985. These well edited, sound scientific publications are thoroughly referenced. The editors have clearly spared no expense in reproducing the fine color figures presented in the text. The following topics are presented: overviews of the technical considerations for laser vascular recanalization, laser-tissue interactions, laser open endarterectomy, embolization and vessel wall perforation, patency results, and experimental models for angioscopic endarterectomy. These articles provide a relatively thorough overview of the area of laser applications to occlusive vascular disease. For the cardiologist or the vascular surgeon with a casual interest in this field, the text is probably too detailed. However, for one with a serious interest in the field or one who is planning experimentation in laser-tissue interaction, this book would be helpful. Librarians should certainly add the volume to their collections if they do not already subscribe to the journal which is its source.