Day-long workshop on chronic total occlusion held. A day-long cardiology workshop on chronic total occlusion (CTO) was held at Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula on Thursday. During workshop the three CTO cases were performed by Dr Rohit Parti and Dr Arvind Kaul both Cardiologists along with their team under the supervision of Dr Gerald Werner from University of Frankfurt, Main & Heidelberg- Mannheim, Germany.
Total occlusion of arteries is usually resolved through a by-pass surgery. It has been seen that due to the risks associated with surgery, patients are often reluctant of undergoing a by-pass surgery. However, with the advancement of technology, a new procedure, chronic total occlusion intervention has been invented which allows patients even with 100% one artery blockage to undergo angioplasty.
Dr Rhoti Parti said that angioplasty for CTO lesions is of immense use when patients cannot be sent for surgery due to other medical reasons or don’t fulfill the criteria to undergo CABG.
He further said that CTO intervention is one of the latest advancements in the field of interventional cardiology and has experienced significant growth in the last few years. With the adaptation and refinement of advanced techniques, including retrograde and dissection/re-entry (Please explain), there has been a significant increase in the attempts of CTO Intervention in many countries abroad, inspiring many interventional cardiologists all over the world to explore this cutting-edge field for patient benefit.
With a good success rate in India, this procedure is usually conducted on patients where only one artery is totally blocked. It is less invasive and less complicated than a by-pass surgery. The procedure can provide significant benefits to patients who have no revascularization options (i.e. patients with previous CABG who present with graft failure) or may be referred for surgery because PCI is not considered to be feasible (i.e. patients with isolated right coronary artery CTO and medically refractory angina), he maintained.
However, this procedure is not advised for patients of kidney failure considering the high quantity of dye used, he remarked.
