Atherectomy is a procedure that clears blockages in the coronary arteries in order to improve blood flow to the heart and relieve symptoms of coronary artery disease.  An atherectomy catheter clears peripheral and coronary arteries by grinding, aspirating, or cutting away atherosclerotic plaque build-up. Atherectomies are performed in much the same way as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasties (PTCA), with the primary difference being the mechanism by which the artery is re-opened.

Atherectomy may be performed instead of or in addition to other procedures and can improve both the immediate and long-term success of balloon angioplasty and stenting.  Although atherectomy is no longer a common procedure, it does serve an imporant role in interventional cardiology. It can be used to treat complex lesions or in cases of in-stent restenosis.  In addition, atherectomy devices are useful in removing atherosclerotic plaque in leg vasculature, where other procedures become problematic.

Created By: John Lentini, Azeem Kaka, Hira Chaudhry, Jason Lohmueller, Geoffrey D'Cruz

This page has been created as a final project for Organ Replacement (BI108) at Brown University.