A 90-year-old Baltimore man with two previous bypass operations is now the first patient at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital to undergo coronary atherectomy, a catheter-based procedure designed to clear a heavily calcified heart blockage without another open-heart surgery.
Doctors discovered Dale S.'s roughly 90% artery blockage while evaluating him before knee surgery, according to WMAR 2 News. Dale suffered a heart attack in 2004 and later underwent quadruple bypass surgery, followed by a triple bypass in 2012, making a third open-heart operation an unappealing option given his age and medical history.
What Coronary Atherectomy Does
Although the treatment is new to Saint Agnes, coronary atherectomy is an established form of minimally invasive heart care. The American Heart Association describes it as a procedure in which a catheter-mounted device cuts away plaque to improve blood flow, while Ascension says its version uses a tiny device to shave away narrowed or blocked areas inside an artery.
That matters most when calcium has made a blockage too rigid for standard balloon treatment alone. In Dale's case, the procedure gave doctors another route to restore blood flow while avoiding the risks and recovery associated with a third bypass operation.
A New Option For Patients In Southwest Baltimore
Saint Agnes' cardiology program now lists atherectomy among its percutaneous coronary intervention treatments, placing the technology alongside angioplasty and stenting in the hospital's local heart-care toolkit. For older patients or those with complicated medical histories, having another catheter-based option available nearby could reduce the need to travel elsewhere for advanced treatment.
Dale is now focused on getting back to the activities that keep him moving, including golf, playing ball with his grandchildren and polka dancing. He has 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and he told WMAR 2 News that he hopes Saint Agnes' first atherectomy will help open the door for more patients to receive advanced cardiac care close to home.
