First State Patient Receives

Advanced Laser Ablation

WATERBURY — Waterbury Hospital became the first hospital in Connecticut to perform an advanced laser ablation surgery that has been approved to clear blockages in arteries above the knee and restore blood flow to the legs and feet. Jonathan Hasson, MD, a vascular surgeon, performed the procedure at the hospital on a 62-year-old Waterbury man who had been unable to walk for more than five minutes at a time prior to the surgery. The patient suffers from peripheral artery disease (PAD).

The hourlong surgery, performed under local anesthesia with minimal sedation, was performed first on the patient’s left leg in mid-August, while a second surgery on his right leg was successfully performed a week later. The patient was able to return home after an overnight stay and within a couple of days, able to walk for up a half an hour.

According to Dr Hasson, “This new technology which utilizes a device called the Spectranetics Turbo Boost laser instrument, allows us to open much larger channels in leg arteries than with previous laser catheters, and helps us to avoid placing stents in the legs.” He continued, “The new technology also helps us avoid bypass surgery in many more cases, and will hopefully produce more long lasting results than with stents.”

Scott Kurtzman, MD, chief of surgery at Waterbury Hospital, said, “We were very pleased that our hospital and Dr Hasson were chosen to introduce this state-of-the-art technique to Connecticut. This is a natural extension of our ever-increasing use of laser technology at Waterbury Hospital.”

PAD, a cardiovascular disease that restricts or blocks blood flow in the legs, affects approximately 12 million people in the United States. If left untreated, the condition can lead to sores that do not heal, or heal slowly, gangrene, and amputation.

Those suffering from PAD are at increased risk for heart disease, aortic aneurysms, and stroke. Therefore, it is important to recognize early symptoms and seek treatment. Early warning signs may include dull or cramping pain in the buttocks, hips, thighs, or calf muscles or numbness or tingling in the leg, foot, or toes.

“Two-thirds of all peripheral endovascular procedures occur in arteries above the knee,” said Dr Hasson. “Now we are able to address this problem with a minimally invasive, proven-effective laser treatment that helps patients quickly get back to an active lifestyle.”

The Turbo-Booster, offered by Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Spectranetics Corporation, is used with a Turbo elite line of laser catheters for the removal of large amounts of plaque material within the superficial femoral artery (SFA) and popliteal arteries by producing pulsed bursts of ultraviolet light energy that vaporize blockages in the arteries into tiny particles that are easily absorbed into the blood stream.

Turbo-Booster was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration on July 2, 2007.