Coronary artery disease often requires, in addition to medication, angioplasty to treat severe narrowings or blockages. Angioplasty classically comprises balloon dilation of the stenosis and stenting. Not infrequently, we encounter narrowings with a large calcium load which increases the possibility of complications or failure of the angioplasty. This is due to the difficulty in fully dilating the calcified narrowing resulting in incomplete stent deployment, which can cause immediate or long-term complications.

These interventions are characterized by particular technical difficulty, a lower success rate, a higher rate of peri-interventional complications, but also a worse long-term outcome, due to a higher rate of thrombosis and restenosis of the stents.

The treatment of such calcified vessels is facilitated by the method of Intracoronary Lithotripsy (Intravascular Lithotripsy - IVL). This is carried out with the application of a prototype device-catheter (Shockwave Intravascular Lithotripsy), which allows the opening and smoothing of the hard stenosis through the emission of ultrasonic shock waves, capable of locally transmitting pressure up to 50 atmospheres. Intracoronary Lithotripsy delivers high-velocity pulsed shock waves to the surface of the plaque, causing controlled rupturing and fragmentation of the calcium build-up in the vascular wall.

With this technique, the hard surface of the atherosclerotic plaque is properly shaped and prepared, thus ensuring, without complications, the optimal deployment and deposition of the stents.