Abstract
BACKGROUND: Coronary calcifications represent a challenging subset for the interventional cardiologist performing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and are well-established risk factors for adverse outcomes. Adequate plaque modification prior to stent implantation is critical to achieve an optimal outcome following PCI. Recently, a novel orbital atherectomy device has been introduced into clinical practice to modify calcified plaques. We evaluated the mid-term safety and efficacy of OA in a high-risk "all-comers" population. METHODS: We evaluated 96 consecutive patients with severely calcified coronary lesions who underwent PCI facilitated by the orbital atherectomy device. RESULTS: In-hospital MACCE was 5.2% without target lesion revascularization. At 6-month follow-up, the MACCE rate was 10.4% with a concomitant TLR rate of 1%. CONCLUSIONS: Our mid-term data showed good safety and efficacy of orbital atherectomy as a plaque-modifying tool in an all-comers cohort with severely calcified coronary lesions.