Use Of Intravascular Lithotripsy Research Articles

Use of Shockwave® intravascular lithotripsy in the treatment of calcific peripheral vascular disease of the crural vessels: a protocol for a systematic review

Background: The prevalence of chronic limb-threatening ischaemia due to crural peripheral arterial disease is increasing. Crural disease can be challenging to treat with angioplasty and is associated with poorer patient outcomes. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) is a novel technique that uses acoustic waves to target arterial wall calcification, causing microfractures and increasing lumen gain. It has shown promising results in early clinical trials. This is a protocol for a systematic review of the studies on the use of IVL in the treatment of calcified crural vessels. Methods: A systematic review will be conducted on the use of IVL in patients with calcified crural lesions in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. A search of OVID Medline and EMBASE databases will be carried out for studies of patients with crural peripheral arterial disease undergoing endovascular revascularisation, where IVL was part of the procedure. The primary endpoint of the review will be the safety of IVL, defined as the rate of Major Adverse Limb Events (MALE) and Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE). The efficacy of IVL will be the secondary outcome and will be evaluated in terms of technical and clinical outcomes. The Rayyan web tool for systematic reviews will be used for study screening and selection. Data extraction will be performed using a dedicated Excel spreadsheet. The risk of bias of included studies will be assessed using tools recommended by Cochrane for randomised and non-randomised studies. The assessment of evidence quality and strength of recommendation will be performed using the GRADE approach. Ethics and dissemination: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature data and does not require prior ethical approval. Requests for unpublished data from authors of included studies will comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We aim to disseminate the results of this study in peer-reviewed journals and conferences.

1145 BAIL-OUT INTRAVASCULAR CORONARY LITHOTRIPSY FOR THE TREATMENT OF STENT IN-STENT UNDER EXPANSION

Abstract Background in-stent restenosis remains a significant clinical problem for which optimal treatment is under debate. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) is mostly used for safe and effective treatment of de novo coronary calcifications, while the use of this technology to support bailout procedures, including stent under-expansion, is still off-label. One of the advantages of lithotripsy is the possible use after stent deployment. Case presentation a 66-year-old male patient was admitted to our Institution due to a medically refractory angina and a coronary computed tomography (CCT) detecting three vessel disease with multiple critical stenosis. The patient had multiple comorbidities including history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and multiple myocardial rivascularization. In 2003 he underwent coronary artery by-pass (CABG) with left internal mammal artery (LIMA) to left anterior descending (LAD) artery and free saphenous vein graft (VG) to the ramus intermedius (RI). In 2009 the patient underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the right coronary artery (RCA) with the implantation of a stent at the central segment, and a second stent at the crux cordis. For recurrent in-stent restenosis of the stent previously implanted at the central segment the patient was treated in 2013 with percutaneous balloon angioplasty (POBA) and in 2017 with the implantation of another drug eluting stent (Resolute Onyx, Medtronic, Santa Rosa, California) overlapping the proximal part of the scaffold. Coronary angiography revealed, a severe coronary artery disease with 80% stenosis of distal left main. The LAD was occluded at the middle segment and the ramus presented 99% stenosis at the proximal segment. The RCA had a diffuse severe in-stent restenosis involving the Resolute Onyx stent. Therefore, the operator decided to treat the restenosis with a direct stenting (Xience, Abbott Vascular Santa Clara, USA), but he was unaware of the fact that there was already an Onyx stent that was barely visible. After implantation, an inadequate expansion of the stents was observed (Figura 1A-B), which persisted despite post-dilation with non-compliant balloon (NCB) at high-pressure (Figure 1C). Given the persistence of stents under-expansion, it was decided to perform bail-out intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) therapy with a Shockwave balloon catheter (Figure 2A). The stent was then post-dilated with a NCB (Figure 2B). The final angiographic image and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) showed an optimal stent expansion (Figure 3). Conclusion intravascular lithotripsy could be used to treat undilatable stent-in-stent restenosis. Of interest, the case presented demonstrated, for the first time, the possible use of IVL in 2-stent layers, with an optima final stent expansion.

Novel application of intravascular lithotripsy in stent under-expansion: A single-center experience.

Stent under-expansion due to calcification is associated with a less durable result. The development of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) has provided clinicians with a readily available, simple-to-use treatment option for coronary calcification, but the use of IVL within a previously stented segment is currently off-license. There are, however, developing data suggesting that the use of IVL can be an effective treatment option for patients with calcific stent under-expansion. This was a single-center study of all patients treated with IVL for calcific stent under-expansion between January 2019 and June 2021. The impact of IVL on quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) stenosis and on the minimal stent area (MSA) derived from intracoronary imaging were recorded. The presence of periprocedural complications and adverse cardiovascular events was obtained from the clinical record during the study timeframe. Thirty-nine patients underwent IVL for calcific stent under-expansion during the study time frame with one patient treated with more than one lesion in the same session. In all lesions, there was an improvement in the QCA stenosis with 37 (92.5%) having a residual stenosis of ≤30%. The mean QCA stenosis pre-IVL was 68 ± 21% and following IVL the mean QCA was 18 ± 9% (p < 0.001). In all lesions, there was an improvement in the MSA, with 26 (92.9%) achieving an MSA of more than 4.5 mm2 . The mean MSA pre-IVL was 3.88 ± 1.51 mm2 and following IVL the mean MSA was 7.41 ± 2.34 mm2 (p < 0.001). There were no major procedural complications. Over a mean follow-up of 506 ± 277 days, one patient died from ventricular arrhythmia but there were no other major adverse cardiovascular events. This single-center study demonstrates that IVL is a safe and effective treatment for calcific stent under-expansion with good medium-term results.

Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) for calcified coronary lesions; a real world multicentre European study with long term follow up

Abstract Background The presence of calcium in atherosclerotic plaques is a challenge for successful angioplasty and is an independent risk factor for restenosis and stent thrombosis. Despite conventional tools (non-compliant, scoring and cutting balloons and rotational atherectomy), cracking calcium can still be challenging and incomplete. Intra-vascular lithotripsy (IVL) has shown promising results, although long-term data on safety and efficacy from real-world is lacking. Purpose This study was undertaken to report long-term outcomes following use of IVL from a European multi-centre experience. Methods This was a multicentre, retrospective observational study in which we enrolled all patients treated with shockwave lithotripsy from November 2018 to June 2021. Procedural success, complications and in hospital events were evaluated. The clinical outcomes during follow-up included cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction (TVMI), target lesion revascularisation (TLR), and major adverse cardiac event (MACE) (composite of cardiac death, TVMI, and TVR). Result A total of 272 patients were treated with IVL, with a mean age of 72 9.1 years and 78.5% (n=216) were male. Forty percent (n=110) were diabetic while 16% (n=45) had chronic kidney disease. Acute coronary syndrome was the presentation in 36% (n=99) while 51% (n=141) had stable angina. De novo lesions accounted for 78% (n=215) of the cases and the remainder were in-stent restenosis (21%; n=58). The LAD was the commonest artery treated 50% (n=139) followed by RCA 24% (n=68). Intracoronary imaging was performed in 33% of cases. Upfront IVL strategy was adopted in 37% (n=101) while 63% (n=171) were bail out procedures due to inadequate pre dilatation. Adjuvant rotational atherectomy was used on 31 (11.4%) cases. Procedural success was achieved in 96% (260) cases with major complications in 8 cases (perforation requiring covered stent in 3 patients) but there was no in-hospital mortality. Clinical outcomes over the median follow up of 641 days are shown in the table. Conclusion This is the largest multicentre registry with long term follow up. It has demonstrated that IVL appears to be safe with high success rates, low rates of complication and no in-hospital mortality. The long-term follow-up show promising results with low rates of hard-endpoints and revascularization rates. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

Intravascular lithotripsy in chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention: Insights from the PROGRESS-CTO registry.

The use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has received limited study. We analyzed the baseline clinical and angiographic characteristics and procedural outcomes of 82 CTO PCIs that required IVL at 14 centers between 2020 and 2022. During the study period, IVL was used in 82 of 3301 (2.5%) CTO PCI procedures (0.4% in 2020and 7% in 2022; p for trend < 0.001). Mean patient age was 69 ± 11 years and 79% were men. The prevalence of hypertension (95%), diabetes mellitus (62%), and prior PCI (61%) was high. The most common target vessel was the right coronary artery (54%), followed by the left circumflex (23%). The mean J-CTO and PROGRESS-CTO scores were 2.8 ± 1.1 and 1.3 ± 1.0, respectively. Antegrade wiring was the final successful crossing strategy in 65% and the retrograde approach was used in 22%. IVL was used in 10% of all heavily calcified lesions and 11% of all balloon undilatable lesions. The 3.5 mm lithotripsy balloon was the most commonly used balloon (28%). The mean number of pulses per lithotripsy run was 33 ± 32 and the median duration of lithotripsy was 80 (interquartile range: 40-103) seconds. Technical and procedural success was achieved in 77 (94%) and 74 (90%) cases, respectively. Two (2.4%) Ellis Class 2 perforations occurred after IVL use and were managed conservatively. IVLis increasingly being used in CTO PCI with encouraging outcomes.

E-14 | Intracoronary Lithotripsy Use for In-stent Restenosis Including Multilayer ISR

Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) use has been well described in calcified coronary artery disease. It has been deemed an effective and a safe method for plaque modification. In-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a major challenge in coronary revascularization especially multilayer ISR. The use of IVL in ISR remains off label and has been described in case reports and small case series. Here we describe IVL use in ISR including multilayer ISR and its procedural and clinical outcomes.

Intravascular Lithotripsy-Assisted Carotid Stent Expansion

Carotid artery stenting has been demonstrated to effectively reduce the risk of stroke in appropriately selected patients. Its application has remained limited in the setting of heavily calcified plaque. Atherectomy has been used in peripheral vascular beds to overcome this limitation; however, the embolic risks associated with atherectomy are too great for the carotid space. We have present the use of intravascular lithotripsy to safely overcome the complications associated with severely calcified carotid lesions.

Calcified Abdominal aortic occlusion: Treatment using Intravascular Lithotripsy

AbstractNear total occlusion of abdominal aorta due to atherosclerotic calcification is a challenging condition to treat. Though use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) has proven to be an effective technique in the treatment of calcified arterial lesions, the data on the use of the technique in high grade occlusion of aortic stenosis is still limited. We present a case of abdominal aortic calcification treatment in a patient using IVL technique.

Intravascular Lithotripsy and Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty for Severely Calcified Femoropopliteal Arterial Disease

Introduction: The combination of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) and drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty for calcified peripheral lesions is associated with promising short-term results. However, data regarding the 12 months performance of this treatment option is missing. This study reports on the outcomes of IVL and DCB angioplasty for calcified femoropopliteal disease. Methods: Patients treated with IVL and DCB for calcified femoropopliteal lesions between February 2017 and September 2020 were included into this study. The primary outcome measure of this analysis was primary patency. Secondary patency, freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR) and overall mortality were additionally analyzed. Results: Fifty-five (n = 55) patients and 71 lesions were analyzed. Most patients presented with long-term limb-threatening ischemia (n = 31, 56%), 47% (n = 26) were diabetics, and 66% (n = 36) had long-term kidney disease. The median lesion length was 77 mm (interquartile range: 45-136), and 20% (n = 14) of the lesions were chronic total occlusions (CTOs). Eccentric calcification was found in 23% of the vessels (n = 16), and circumferential calcium (peripheral arterial calcium scoring system [PACSS] Class 3 and 4) was present in 78% (n = 55) of the treated lesions. The technical success after IVL amounted to 87% (n = 62) and the procedural success to 97% (n = 69). A flow-limiting dissection was observed in 2 cases (3%). Both the rates of target lesion perforation and distal embolization were 1% (n = 1). A bail-out scaffold was deployed in 5 lesions (7%). At 12 months the Kaplan-Meier estimate of primary patency was 81%, the freedom from TLR was 92% and the secondary patency 98%. The overall survival amounted to 89%, while the freedom from major amputation to 98%. The presence of eccentric disease, CTOs, or PACSS Class 4 did not increase the risk for loss of patency or TLR. Conclusions: In this challenging cohort of patients, the use of IVL and DCB for calcified femoropopliteal lesions was associated with promising 12 months outcomes and an excellent safety profile.

Intravascular Lithotripsy for Optimal Angioplasty of Infrapopliteal Calcified Lesions.

Infrapopliteal arterial disease results from 2 major etiologies: medial calcification and intimal atheromatous plaque. Lesion calcification constitutes one of the most widely encountered risk factors for percutaneous transluminal angioplasty failure. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) creates selective fracturing of calcium deposits in the arterial wall, increasing the compliance of the target artery and facilitating angioplasty. Results regarding IVL utilization at femoropopliteal and infrapopliteal lesions have been very promising in terms of safety and efficacy. This review presents currently available data on IVL outcomes for infrapopliteal lesions and provides technical information for optimal use of IVL in these challenging lesions.

Best Practice in Intravascular Lithotripsy.

Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) is a novel approach to lesion preparation of severely calcified plaques in coronary and peripheral vessels. Lithotripsy is delivered by vaporising fluid to create an expanding bubble that generates sonic pressure waves that interact with arterial calcification. Available data indicate that IVL leads to increased vessel compliance before stent implantation with high efficacy and an excellent safety profile. Since it gained the CE mark in 2017, and with improved operator experience, the use of IVL has expanded into more complex clinical situations. This review focuses on the best practice for IVL use in the cath lab, based on 3 years of experience with the technology and the latest scientific data from the Disrupt CAD clinical trials.

272 Combined rotational atherectomy and intravascular lithotripsy for heavy calcified coronary artery

Abstract Aims Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of heavily calcified coronary lesions still represents a challenge for interventional cardiologists, with higher risk of immediate complications, late failure due to stent underexpansion or malapposition and consequent poor clinical outcome. Rotational atherectomy (RA) is a well-known calcium debulking modality. However, when coronary plaques present a significant amount of circumferential deep calcium, RA alone may not be able to achieve adequate lesion preparation. The combined use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) and RA, a technique called ‘Rotatripsy’, can be an effective approach in order to enable optimal stent implantation. We present a case of a calcific right coronary artery (RCA) PCI successfully treated by ‘Rotatripsy’ technique. Methods and results A 78-years-old man presented to our emergency department complaining of acute chest pain and dyspnoea. The electrocardiogram revealed ST-segment elevation in aVR and a diffuse ST-segment depression. Transthoracic echocardiography showed left ventricular anterior, septal, and apical walls akinesia. An urgent coronary angiography showed a critical distal left main (LM) stenosis involving the left anterior descending (LAD) artery ostium and a heavy calcified dominant RCA with two tandem sub-occlusive stenosis in the mid segment (Figure 1A). An immediate PCI with two drug eluting stents (DES) in the LM and LAD was performed. The patient was scheduled two days later for RCA PCI. RCA was engaged via left radial approach with a 6-Fr AL1 guiding catheter and the lesions were crossed with a Sion Blue wire. Using a Finecross MG microcatheter, an extra-support Rotawire was placed distally in the RCA. However, after multiple rotablation with 1.5 mm burr (Figure 1B), the mid segment lesion (Figure 1C) was still undilatable with a 3.5 mm non-compliant balloon (NCB) at 22 atm showing a partial dog bone effect (Figure 1D). We decided to attempt adjunctive IVL for calcium debulking. Using a Finecross MG and the trapping technique, a Gran Slam wire was placed distally; a 4.0 mm IVL balloon was delivered at the undilatable lesion and 80 pulses were applied (Figure 1E). Once the IVL treatment was completed (Figure 1F), a 4.0 mm NCB was inflated to 20 atm to further dilate the segment with an optimal expansion (Figure 1G). Finally, a DES Synergy 4.0 × 48 mm was implanted (Figure 1H) and it was post-dilated with a 4.5 mm NCB inflated to 22 atm (Figure 1I) with a perfect angiographic result (Figure 1J). Conclusions Coronary calcifications can lead to stent underexpansion, which is related to a higher rate of future complications, such as restenosis or thrombosis. If conventional lesion dilatations are not effective, alternative techniques should be considered (cutting balloon, scoring balloon, RA, orbital atherectomy, IVL). In case of circumferential deep calcium plaques, RA may not be able to achieve an adequate lesion preparation. RA allows the treatment of intimal calcium and permits to cross balloons or stents through severe lesions. However, when adequate expansion of the balloons is not achieved after RA, Shockwave IVL, that is not usually able to cross critical stenosis due to its bulky profile, represents an optimal complementary device, in order to fracture deep calcium and facilitate stent delivery and optimal expansion. In this case, we have successfully used the hybrid approach called ‘Rotatripsy’, which combines RA and IVL, in order to avoid more aggressive RA, which would have required the use of 7-Fr guiding catheter setting and may have increased the risk of complications.

TCT-412 Use of Intravascular Lithotripsy in a Population With a High Prevalence of Renal Disease and Diabetes: Insights From Real-World Data

TCT-412 Use of Intravascular Lithotripsy in a Population With a High Prevalence of Renal Disease and Diabetes: Insights From Real-World Data

Emergency Intravascular Aortic and Iliac Artery Lithotripsy to Facilitate Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair of a Ruptured Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm: A Case Report

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is the preferred treatment for ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysms. Poor access vessels are a relative contraindication to TEVAR. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) has recently been shown to be effective in treating calcified and stenotic vessels. Prior to the introduction of IVL, plaque modification techniques to increase vessel compliance and luminal diameter were limited to technically complex and risky surgical and interventional radiologic procedures. We present a case demonstrating the use of IVL in the emergency setting to treat severe atherosclerotic stenoses in the abdominal aorta and the iliac artery to facilitate TEVAR of a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm.

Intravascular imaging-guided intracoronary lithotripsy: First real-world experience.

Background and AimsCoronary calcification remains a significant challenge for the contemporary interventional cardiologist. We aim to describe the use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in a range of real‐world settings.MethodsA retrospective two‐center analysis of patients treated with IVL between June 2018 and November 2019. Technical and procedural success, as well as procedural complications and 30‐day outcomes (death, myocardial infarction, or repeat target vessel revascularization), was recorded.ResultsSixty‐five patients underwent IVL: 80% were male and the mean age was 70.1 ± 12.0 years. 54% of patients presented with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and 68% of patients had intracoronary imaging. Twelve patients required IVL within pre‐existing stents, and 12 underwent IVL in the left main stem. All balloons were successfully delivered with 98.5% procedural success. There was a significant gain in MLA post PCI of 261.9 ± 100% following IVL. There were two procedural complications. At 30‐day follow‐up, there was one death, and one patient required a repeat procedure due to stent underexpansion.ConclusionsIn this largest real‐world series of imaging‐guided IVL for calcified lesions to date, we demonstrate that IVL is deliverable, safe, and effective at calcium modification especially when intracoronary imaging is used.

Use of Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy for the treatment of symptomatic and severely calcified superior mesenteric artery stenosis

BackgroundWe present the use of intravascular lithotripsy as a treatment for highly calcified superior mesenteric artery stenosis.Case presentationA 67-year-old diabetic man had chronic postprandial abdominal pain and weight loss. Computed tomography angiography revealed highly calcified stenosis of the superior mesenteric artery. Selective angiography confirmed severe stenosis. A Shockwave lithotripsy balloon catheter was successfully used via brachial access to modify calcified plaque and increase vascular lumen. After 12 months of follow-up the patient had gained weight and had no abdominal postprandial pain.ConclusionIntravascular lithotripsy could be considered a new treatment modality to modify calcified lesions in the visceral arteries. More controlled studies are needed to demonstrate the efficacy, safety and feasibility of this new technology.Level of evidence4, Case Report

TCTAP C-024 The Use of Intravascular Lithotripsy and Intravascular Ultrasound to Aid Percutaneous Coronary Intervention to a Calcific Vein Graft

TCTAP C-024 The Use of Intravascular Lithotripsy and Intravascular Ultrasound to Aid Percutaneous Coronary Intervention to a Calcific Vein Graft

TCTAP C-098 Use of Intravascular Lithotripsy in Calcium Management: Comparison of Intravascular Ultrasound and Optical Coherence Tomography Guidance

TCTAP C-098 Use of Intravascular Lithotripsy in Calcium Management: Comparison of Intravascular Ultrasound and Optical Coherence Tomography Guidance

Current Treatment Modalities for Calcified Coronary Artery Disease: A Review Article Comparing Novel Intravascular Lithotripsy and Traditional Rotational Atherectomy.

The coronary artery calcium score is considered the most useful marker for predicting coronary events. The high score reflects heavy calcification in the vessel, which is more challenging to treat with the percutaneous intervention (PCI). To prepare this type of heavily calcified lesion intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) technology can be used prior to PCI, which is based on the concept of converting electrical energy into mechanical energy. It harmlessly and selectively disrupts both the shallow and deep deposits of calcium. The balloon-based catheters of this system emit sonic waves that transfer to the adjacent tissue resulting in improvement in vessel compliance with the slightest soft tissue loss. Therefore, making the treatment of calcified lesions more feasible, effective, and also simplify complex lesions. The lesions considered for lithotripsy-enhanced balloon dilation include calcified coronary lesions and peripheral vasculature lesions. This article reviews the use of IVL in calcified coronary artery disease, its advantages, and disadvantages while comparing it with other techniques like high-pressure balloons and rotational atherectomy devices. A thorough search of databases like PubMed and Google Scholar was performed, which uncovered 35 peer review articles. Keywords utilized in the data search were calcified coronary artery disease, coronary lithotripsy, calcification, and calcified atherosclerotic plaque. According to rotational atherectomy and intravascular lithotripsy trials, the latter was safer, mainly by decreasing atheromatous embolization risk. Deciphering these studies, it seems like IVL is better at parameters like procedural and clinical success rate, acute lumen gain, and less residual stenosis except in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), which was better in rotational atherectomy (RA). However, when lesion crossings are present, the atherectomy technique is still considered as first-line therapy. In clinical practice, despite these encouraging data for treating calcified lesions, IVL is grossly underutilized because of substantial costs and perceived significant procedural risk effects on the cardiac rhythm like causing 'shock topics' and asynchronous cardiac pacing. More longer-term clinical data and extensive researches are required to validate its safety and efficiency.

Intravascular Lithotripsy for Treatment of Calcified Lesions During Carotid Artery Stenting

Purpose: To report the use of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in the treatment of calcified carotid artery lesions. Materials and Methods: The records of 21 high-surgical-risk patients (mean age 75.1±8.1 years; 17 men) who were treated at 8 centers for carotid artery stenosis ≥70% were retrospectively reviewed. Twelve patients had a history of cerebrovascular disease. All patients had heavily calcified carotid artery lesions: 19 de novo and 2 in-stent restenoses (ISR). The mean baseline stenosis was 82.3%±9.7%. IVL was utilized at the discretion of the operator, followed by balloon angioplasty. Embolic protection devices were used in all cases. Results: In 19 patients, IVL was followed by stent implantation; the 2 ISR lesions were dilated only. The mean IVL balloon diameter was 4.64±1.13 mm, and the mean number of IVL pulses applied was 67.2±61.4 (range 10–180). All procedures were technically successful (<30% residual stenosis). No patients developed symptomatic bradycardia or hypotension due to IVL, and there were no adverse events associated with IVL delivery. All patients were discharged on dual antiplatelet therapy. Seventeen days after the procedure, 1 patient experienced an ischemic stroke that was deemed due to aortic arch manipulation during transfemoral access. Carotid duplex ultrasound examination identified significant restenosis (>70%) in 1 asymptomatic patient at 12 months after the index procedure. No patients required reintervention during a median follow-up of 6 months (range 1–12). Conclusion: This preliminary experience demonstrates that IVL can be a safe and effective approach for the management of severely calcified carotid lesions. Further research is warranted to determine the longer-term safety and efficacy of IVL for dilation of calcified carotid artery lesions as an adjunct to carotid artery stenting.