Effect of blood upon the selective ablation of atherosclerotic plaque witha pulsed dye laser

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Laser angioplasty systems with laser energy preferentially absorbed by atherosclerotic plaque may offer a safe method of plaque removal. This study evaluated the effect of blood upon selective energy absorption using a pulsed dye lasser at 480 nm. Intra‐arterial laser irradiation of normal rabbit femoral arteries demonstrated a perforation threshold energy with blood perfusion of 13.1 mJ per pulse compared to 87.9 mJ with saline (P < .0001), indicating a deleterious effect in the presence of blood. An adverse effect upon arterial healingt at 3 days was noted in sheep following intra‐arterial irradiation during blood but not saline nerfusion. Normal and atherosclerotic human aorta ablation thresholds differed significantly (P < .0002) under saline (plaque: 20 mJ and normal: 20 mJ) was not significant. We conclude that absorption of laser energy by blood can reduce the effect of differential absorption by endogenous chromophores in normal and pathologic vascular tissues and, therefore, removal of blood may be a prerequisite for selective ablation of atherosclerotic plaques.