New Balloon Technologies for CLI

Dr. Soukas is an Interventional Cardiologist who is the Founder and Director of the Brown Vascular and Endovascular Medicine Fellowship program, serves as the Director of the Interventional PV Lab at the Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute of Brown, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine. We begin by discussing the treatment of CLI, particularly with new below the knee balloon angioplasty devices like the Cagent Serranator and how balloon tech has evolved over time.

These new technologies allow for 1000x more force than previous balloon models through unique serration technology at significantly lesser pressures, minimizing the risk of barotrauma and iatrogenic lumen dissections, while allowing for effective luminal gain, and showing success in treating CLI even when calcified lesions are present. What’s more is that there is now a variety of serration balloon lengths available, which was definitely a huge shortcoming in prior scoring balloons with limited sizing. While IVL is the preferred option in terms of treating concentric (360°) calcified lesions, new serration balloons are cheaper and show success in treating both concentric and eccentric calcified lesions with minimal recoil.

Dr. Soukas and Dr. Fritts also go on to discuss how using IVUS is critical in visualizing the size, shape, and depth of possible calcifications but also important in picking the correctly sized serration-balloon to get the job done. Dr. Soukas also explains how the serration balloon technology is easily deployable, tracks very well within vasculature, and can even be used below the ankle if needed (with some pre-dilation of the lumen) stating that if the IVUS can fit, usually so can the serration balloon.

To wrap up the episode we underscore how important it is to have the right tools in our toolbox to treat patients with CLI, getting as much “red gold” down to the foot as possible to avoid loss of the limb, and a few papers our listeners can check out to learn more about serration balloons (find linked in Resources below).