Spectranetics Laser Catheter Passes Test

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Jan. 9 -- The Spectranetics Corp. reported that a doctor at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas successfully used its POINT 9 laser catheter, in conjunction with its Support Catheter, to free a fully occluded right coronary artery after two prior attempts to open the vessel using balloon angioplasty had failed. The doctor, Tony S. Das, used the support catheter to provide stability to the guidewire, enabling it to cross the 20 mm lesion that blocked the artery. The catheter was then used to deliver laser energy that vaporized a pilot hole through the lesion, after which the vessel was ballooned and stented, creating a large enough opening to provide adequate blood flow to the heart.