Atherectomy vs Intravascular Lithotripsy

Calcification of the coronary lesion is challenging during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) since it can cause the balloon dilation to fail with subsequent incomplete and asymmetrical stent expansion. Also, calcified coronary lesions are associated with increased risk of adverse events after PCI, such as stent restenosis and thrombosis. Several devices and techniques have been proposed to treat severely calcified coronary lesions. For many years, modification of these lesions with rotational atherectomy has been considered the gold standard to ease the process of angioplasty and PCI. Recently, intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) has been proposed as an alternative to rotational atherectomy for the treatment of calcified de-novo coronary lesions. The Shockwave Medical Coronary Rx Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) System (Shockwave Medical Inc., Fremont, California, USA) is a novel balloon catheter-based device able to disrupt calcified lesions using technology like lithotripsy for kidney stones. Preliminary experiences show that IVL is promising for achieving an effective plaque modification at time of PCI. However, uncertainty about the optimal tool to select in case of calcification of coronary lesions exists, as no randomized comparisons between rotational atherectomy and intravascular lithotripsy have been carried out so far. The aim of this pilot randomized trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intensive plaque modification with rotational atherectomy vs. intravascular lithotripsy before placement of a drug-eluting stent.