Intravascular Therapies for the Elderly Diabetic Population

Publication Date: 4 April, 2022

Source: Headline Daily

Diabetes is becoming one of the most widespread health-burning problems among the elderly population. Atherosclerosis and incidence of vessel calcification will speed up if the patient is an elderly with diabetic condition. Vessel calcification is usually present in vessels of the heart and the lower limbs. Atherosclerosis is the build-up of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on your blood vessel walls. This build-up is called a plaque which can cause the narrowing of blood vessels, and hence the blocking of blood flow. Blood vessel calcification occurs when calcium builds up in the plaques found in the blood vessel walls of the heart and lower limbs. A common treatment for the narrowing of blood vessels in the heart or lower limb is the minimally invasive procedure using balloon catheters and stents.

Blood vessels with calcium build-up present a challenge for balloon catheters to open the narrowed vessels. It is more commonly associated with vessel dissection, perforation, and failure to deliver drug eluting stents or the stent cannot be fully opened . If this happens, the patient is at risk of having re-narrowing of the blood vessels and the possibility of life-threatening heart attacks and therefore, a second procedure may be required. It is important that the blood vessels with calcium build-up are well-prepared prior to implanting a drug eluting stent or being treated with a drug eluting balloon for optimal results. There are many devices that can assist in opening the calcified blood vessels. Here, we are introducing a specially designed balloon with scoring wires and low crossing profile that allow the balloon to track and cross this challenging anatomy.

OrbusNeich^® manufactures a scoring balloon with a dual-wire system. The inflated balloon pressure is focused on the wires to facilitate a focal stress to help create fractures in the calcium build-up. The objective is to open the hard and calcified plaque to restore adequate blood flow to the heart. The analogy of this is the use of a cheese slicer that comes with a wire as it makes slicing cheese easier. The dual wire scoring balloon is sold internationally and well-received in major markets like China, Japan, and USA. The company has a new generation of scoring balloon with a triple-wire system, in hope to achieve even better results. This new scoring balloon has been launched in Japan and will soon be launched in other countries. OrbusNeich, being a pioneer in life changing technologies, is pleased to partner with our physicians to improve patients’ quality of life.