A new heart-saving procedure at Tanner is helping interventional cardiologists target blocked blood vessels in people with atherosclerosis — a serious condition that poses a dangerous threat to the heart.
The new technology is called the Shockwave Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) System, and it works much like a standard
percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also called angioplasty and stenting.
During a PCI, an interventional cardiologist makes a tiny incision in the arm or groin, threading in a small, thin catheter tipped with a tiny balloon to clear blocked artery walls. A small tube of wire mesh is often placed at the site to reinforce the artery and reduce the risk of future blockages at the site.
The procedure using the Shockwave catheter begins the same way; however, instead of first delivering a tiny balloon, the catheter in the artery is equipped with lithotripsy emitters that create a small amount of pressure, pulsing through the clogged artery to "shock" and break up the calcified plaque — even in the most challenging blockages.
"The Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter may be used before implanting a stent to open the arteries that supply blood to the heart (coronary arteries) that are narrowed or blocked due to calcification," said Shazib Khawaja, MD, FACC, FSCAI, an interventional cardiologist and heart disease specialist with Tanner Heart & Vascular Specialists and chief of interventional cardiology for Tanner Heart Care. "Significant calcification can limit stent placement and deployment in the vessel. Stenting can be achieved after using this newly FDA-approved device for the patient."
Charles Honea, 78, experienced the heart-saving procedure firsthand, giving him a new appreciation for managing his heart care.
"It happened on Nov. 11, 2021, after my wife and I got back from the gym," said Honea. "After we worked out, we came home and sat on the front porch in rocking chairs reading the paper when I started to feel something in my chest."
Honea is no stranger to dealing with heart issues and said he'd experienced irregular heartbeats in the past — but this time was different.
"I've had irregular heartbeats. They can feel like flutters and would usually go away after some light walking and rest, but this feeling was something else," he said. "So, I took my pulse with my finger on my wrist and counted around 30 beats per minute."
Measuring how low his heartbeat was, Honea had his wife, Phyllis, take his heart rate and blood pressure again to confirm his reading.
"I think she counted 29 beats in a minute. She immediately called my primary care doctor, who told her to get me to the hospital as quickly as possible," said Honea.
At the hospital, Honea was admitted and spoke to Dr. Khawaja.
"Dr. Khawaja came in, took some tests and checked me out. He said I would need to have some stents placed the next morning," said Honea. "The next day, I had the procedure — with three stents — and everything went fine."
After his procedure, and a day or so of close monitoring from Dr. Khawaja and the heart care team, Honea's heart was already stronger, and he was feeling stronger, too — so strong that he could be discharged home for the rest of his recovery.
"Not long after the surgery, I was back in the gym," said Honea. "I knew that I couldn't do some of the exercises that I'd been doing, but I've been able to get back into it slowly. And since the procedure, I haven't had any issues with irregular heartbeats either."
Honea and his wife are both retired and have been active gym members for years. He said when he's not exercising, he often does yard work or other activities that keep him busy.
He credits his quick recovery to his heart care team and a lifetime of staying active.
"The procedure went great, and the whole team taking care of me was, too," said Honea. "Even though I'm 78, I feel like I could go out right now and do just about anything I wanted to. I've worked hard my whole life, and I've never been the type of person to sit around. That's why I believe being active is part of staying healthy."
After this experience, Honea advocates the seriousness of staying on top of your heart health.
"This turned out to be a good experience, and I'll tell anybody, if you have any heart problems or feel anything going on in your chest, get it checked out. Be cautious. Get an appointment with the heart doctor and take care of it. I know some people wait until it's too late."
Tanner Heart & Vascular Specialists has locations in Carrollton, Bremen, Villa Rica and Wedowee.
To learn more about heart care at Tanner, visit TannerHeartCare.org.