[Laser angioplasty of peripheral arterial occlusions. Experimental and clinical results]

The first in-vivo trials were carried out on arteries of the extremities which have a straight course and short segmental occlusions. Initial experience indicates that obstructions up to 20 cm in length can be overcome by burning through plaques and thrombotic material by means of a neodymium-YAG-laser and then recanalised. By using a 2.2 mm spherical sapphire, one obtains a channel of 2.5 mm diameter through the obstruction. Subsequently dilatation with a balloon catheter is necessary. Laser angioplasty does not complicate the procedure significantly as far as the patient is concerned, since both the laser catheter and the balloon can be introduced through the same No. 7 F introducer into the femoral artery. Peripheral emboli could not be demonstrated angiographically, nor were they clinically manifest. On the basis of present experience, it seems that recanalisation of occlusions in arteries in the extremities, using a neodymium-YAG-laser focused by a synthetic sapphire, is a feasible alternative to conventional mechanical recanalisation.