Newswise — Mercy Medical Center vascular surgeon Dr. Paul Lucas has performed a new angioplasty treatment for peripheral artery disease using a tiny drug-coated balloon that reopens clogged arteries. The patient is the first in Maryland to undergo the procedure, Dr. Lucas noted. Dr. Lucas is the Director of the nationally accredited Vascular Laboratory at The Vascular Center at Mercy and a Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation.
Millions of Americans suffer from peripheral artery disease, which causes fatty material to build up in the arteries carrying blood to the head, organs and limbs. If untreated, the disease can lead to severe blockage in the arteries of the legs or feet which may require amputation.
The Lutonix 035 Drug Coated Balloon PTA Catheter allows medication to be released onto the inner surface of the artery to limit the amount of scarring that occurs following the procedure.
In typical angioplasty, a doctor threads a thin tube through a blood vessel in the arm or groin up to the blockage, then inflates a tiny balloon at the end of the tube to push the plaque outward against the wall of the artery. This widens the artery and restores blood flow. The new treatment adding a low-dose coating of Paclitaxel to the balloon was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Paclitaxel is also used in cancer chemotherapy. The medication, when used in arteries, destroys the cells that are responsible for creating scarring, Dr. Lucas said.An experienced vascular surgeon with The Vascular Center at Mercy in Baltimore, Dr. Lucas is Board Certified in General and Vascular Surgery. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with diseased blood vessels. Dr. Lucas performed the new drug coated balloon angioplasty at Mercy today with assistance of his Fellow in Vascular Surgery, Dr Jacqee Stuhldreher.
RSS