Moderate-to-severe calcification in peripheral arteries is an “ongoing battle” in in the endovascular treatment of complex lesions, William Gray (Philadelphia, USA), tells Vascular News.
Gray explains that there are a number of tools deployed to win the acute battle, but notes frankly that they have never been tested meaningfully in a randomised setting. In the longer-term patency war, when drug-coated balloons are employed as treatment options, interventionalists could use some “reinforcements”. he says.
It is in this context that the acute 30-days results from the DISRUPT PAD III data, billed as the largest-ever randomised clinical trial of severely calcified peripheral lesions, demonstrate superior outcomes with the use of intravascular lithotripsy (Shockwave) over percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.
