Ask a Texas Heart Institute Doctor
Informed patients make better patients.
Question:
Is laser treatment helpful for coronary artery disease? I had CABG x4 in December 2007, and have angina pain which increased. I'm now on many medications since having another cardiac cath in October 2008, which showed 70 percent scarring at anastomosis area of right coronary artery at the bifurcation area. A stent is not recommended at this time due to risks at this area. Also I have multiple blockages in vessels all over my heart. Vessels are too small to have surgery with any results. Can laser surgery help?
submitted by Debbie, from Florida, on 2/7/09
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiologist, Andres Mesa, MD 
For the most part, transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMLR) is no longer used due to less than encouraging outcomes concerning improved survival. Regarding improvement in angina, results with TMLR were mixed. On occasion, it is still used as adjunctive therapy with coronary bypass surgery, when there is viable heart muscle in an area where a bypass graft is not technically possible.
Currently, enthusiasm surrounds the investigation of new treatments with injection of stems cells to relieve angina and create new vessels. Such studies are being performed at Texas Heart Institute and other selected centers.
See also on this site:
View complete list of "Ask a Heart Doctor" Questions and Answers
| Heart Information Center services are made possible in part by a generous gift from the Hamill Foundation. |
Updated February 2009
