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FDA-Approved Diagnostic System Now Available at Mountain Vista Medical Center
New diagnostic system offers advanced insight into patients’ arteries to improve diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease
Mesa, Ariz. (Feb. 2, 2012) – Mountain Vista Medical Center is among the first hospitals in the U.S. to use St. Jude Medical’s ILUMIEN™ PCI Optimization System, the first and only integrated diagnostic technology that combines optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) technologies on one platform.
The combined ILUMIEN System provides advanced physiological and anatomical insights to improve the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD).
Patients with CAD experience decreased oxygen delivery to the heart due to plaque or cholesterol build-up inside arteries. CAD is a leading cause of death in Arizona according to the Arizona Department of Health.
Christopher Lichtenwalter, M.D., a cardiologist on the medical staff at Mountain Vista Medical Center, first used ILUMIEN on Orville Corvert, 80, of Mesa, Ariz. Corvert underwent cardiac catheterization last month due to increasing chest pain, which revealed multi-vessel coronary artery disease.
“The ILUMIEN device enabled me to appropriately tailor Mr. Corvert’s endovascular therapy,” said Dr. Lichtenwalter. “Traditional angiographic images alone did not provide a clear picture of which of his vessels and lesions required further treatment with coronary stents. With the Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) portion of the ILUMIEN device, I was able to determine which artery was obstructive and would benefit from therapy. Meanwhile, the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) portion of the ILUMIEN device allowed me to visualize the inside of the affected artery and effectively treat his artery in the most obstructive area rather than treating the entire lesion, thereby eliminating unnecessary stenting. The ILUMIEN system allows me to obtain all the information in one place to adequately and effectively treat my patients.”
With the integration of these two technologies, physicians on the medical staff at Mountain Vista Medical Center can identify the precise measurement and dimensions of culprit narrowings responsible for obstructing blood flow to a patient's heart and causing, as well as determine vessel size and structure.
FFR technology is used to determine the severity of blood flow blockages in coronary arteries allowing physicians on the medical staff at Mountain Vista to better identify specific narrowing(s). Meanwhile, the OCT technology is used to visualize and measure important vessel characteristics that are used in guiding stent selection and deployment, and also provide post-stenting information to help ensure the procedure was successful.
The ILUMIEN™ PCI Optimization System received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European CE Mark approval in 2011.
About Mountain Vista Medical Center – www.mvmedicalcenter.com
Mountain Vista Medical Center is a 178-bed, full-service hospital, featuring all private rooms and advanced medical technology. Designed to provide comprehensive health care services for residents of the East Valley, the hospital is a Level IV Trauma Center, Chest Pain Center, Primary Stroke Center and Cardiac Receiving Center. It is located in Mesa, just north of U.S. 60 at Crismon Rd. and Southern Ave. For more information, visit www.mvmedicalcenter.com or call 1-877-924-WELL (9355).
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About Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)
Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) is a measurement that helps physicians identify which coronary artery narrowings are obstructing blood flow to the patient’s heart muscle (called ischemia) and are in danger of causing a coronary artery event, such as a heart attack.
Current data show the readings generated by FFR prior to the placement of a coronary stent helps physicians better optimize clinical outcomes by determining which specific lesion or lesions are responsible for a patient's ischemia. In January 2009, St. Jude Medical announced results from the landmark FAME (Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) vs. Angiography in Multivessel Evaluation) study, a randomized, prospective, multi-center study. The study enrolled 1,005 patients with multivessel coronary artery disease and compared outcomes for patients whose treatment was guided by FFR to those whose treatment was guided only by angiography. The 12-month results, published in the January 15, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated that instances of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including death, myocardial infarction or repeat revascularization, were reduced by 28 percent for patients whose treatment was guided by FFR rather than by standard angiography alone. After two years, patients who received FFR-guided treatment continued to experience improved outcomes over time, including a 34 percent risk reduction in death or heart attack.
About Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) utilizes near-infrared light to create images to visualize and measure important vessel characteristics otherwise not visible or difficult to assess with older intracoronary imaging technologies- such as fluoroscopy and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS).
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