Laser Use In Angioplasty by Edward Mostel

Two Palm Beach County hospitals each performed a new laser procedure to unblock coronary arteries this week, the first times the new tech used in the county.
Dr. Edward Mostel at JFK Medical Center in Atlantis used the hospital's new excimer laser on Henry Carver, 70, of West Palm Beach on Wedne
He was listed in good condition following the procedure. Dr. Edward Mostel at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center used its new machine k Thursday on Charles Dettman, 53, of Palm Beach Gardens.
Dettman also was listed in good condition.
The laser allows doctors to unblock coronary arteries on patients who are not candidates for balloon angioplasty or open heart bypass surge! Known as laser angioplasty, the treatment is used in cases where the length of the blockage is unusually long.
About 5 percent of patients with coronary artery disease are expected to benefit from it.
Previously, patients had to be sent to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami or Shands Hospital in Gainesville for the procedure. The system works by emitting focused light beams that are sent through a specially designed fiber optic catheter to the arteries. The excimer laser produces a beam of "cool" light that vaporizes fatty material blocking the arteries without damaging artery walls.
Rick Van Lith, administrator of The Heart Institute at JFK, said the hospital is using the machine on a trial basis before determining whether h about $250,000.
Mary Jo Gregory, spokeswoman for Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, said the hospital has purchased its machine with its sister hospita Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, and will share the machine.