Houston Methodist Sugar Land Now Offering Advanced Technology to Prevent Strokes and Heart Attacks

Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital is performing an advanced procedure that uses a tiny beam of high-energy ultraviolet (UV) light to remove plaque from patient arteries.

The procedure, called coronary atherectomy, is typically performed on patients with stents who still have plaque, or build-up of fatty deposits, in their arteries. Interventional cardiologists typically use a catheter outfitted with a diamond-coated drill to cut through these deposits inside the artery.

However, with new technology, the coronary laser atherectomy catheter is more effective at removing plaque, especially buildups of calcium. It works through a process called photoablation, using cool UV light to break the molecular bonds of plaque, stimulating both a sonic wave and a reaction called cavitation to crack hardened deposits and sweep away the remaining material.

B. Keith Ellis, M.D., cardiologist.

“The laser atherectomy catheter is an advanced tool that enables us to clear a more defined path within the artery,” said B. Keith Ellis, M.D., board-certified interventional cardiologist and director of Cardiovascular Services, who was the first at Houston Methodist Sugar Land to perform the procedure. “The