Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) uses acoustic shockwaves to induce calcium fractures, facilitating stent expansion and luminal gain for the treatment of severely calcific plaque lesions.
Intravascular lithotripsy is a novel technique using acoustic shockwaves to modify severely calcific plaques, facilitating stent expansion in coronary and peripheral interventions.
A significant proportion of lesions treated with transcatheter interventions in the coronary and peripheral vascular beds exhibit moderate to severe calcific plaques known to portend lower procedural success rates, increased peri-procedural adverse events, and unfavorable clinical outcomes compared with noncalcific plaques. Adapted from lithotripsy technology used for treatment of ureterorenal calculi, intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) is a novel technique for the treatment of severely calcific plaque lesions that uses acoustic shockwaves in a balloon-based delivery system. Shockwaves induce calcium fractures, which facilitate stent expansion and luminal gain. In this review, the authors summarize the physics, preclinical and clinical data on IVL use in the coronary and peripheral vasculature, and future directions of IVL in transcatheter cardiovascular therapies.
Kereiakes et al. (Tue,) conducted a review in Calcific plaque lesions in coronary and peripheral vasculature. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) was evaluated. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) uses acoustic shockwaves to induce calcium fractures, facilitating stent expansion and luminal gain for the treatment of severely calcific plaque lesions.