Chandigarh, Feb 16 (IANS): In a first in India, the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research's (PGIMER) Department of Cardiology, Advanced Cardiac Centre has performed two orbital atherectomy procedures.

Prof and Head Dr. Yash Paul Sharma and his team performed two treatments by using this procedure in patients having heavily calcified coronary arteries, a statement noted.

One patient was an 84-year-old man having angina at rest and had severely calcified tortuous left anterior descending artery.

The patient was at high risk for coronary artery bypass surgery as the anatomy of his vessels was unsuitable for bypass graft. So, the angioplasty was done using this new procedure.

Orbital atherectomy is a novel therapy used for lesion preparation of calcified plaque before percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting.

It has a 1.25 mm diamond-coated crown which ablates the calcium into fine particles approximately 2 micron in size and creates micro fractures in the calcium, said the statement.

The Department of Cardiology has implemented a strategic, innovative and ultra-precision approach which has helped it in maintaining the least mortality in acutely ill cardiac patients, including patients with acute coronary syndrome (heart attack) and cardiogenic shock.