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Background: The successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in chronic total occlusion (CTO) improves the long-term outcome in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Heavy calcification remains one of the strongest predictors of an unfavorable outcome of PCI. In this case series study, shockwave intravascular lithotripsy (S-IVL)-a novel balloon-based coronary system facilitating modification of calcified coronary lesions was evaluated., Methods: The study population consisted of five heavily calcified, undilatable-CTOs lesions treated with S-IVL selected out of all consecutive CTO-PCI patients performed at two high-volume cardiac centers., Results: The registry included 5 patients successful CTO - S-IVL procedures with an average J-CTO of 2.6 points. In the short-term follow-up period, including the first 30 days, no cases of acute in-stent thrombosis, target lesion failure, or major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events were noted., Conclusions: The present data suggest that this approach can be safe and useful in the treatment of complex calcified CTO lesions.

Background: The unprotected calcified Left Main disease represents a high-risk subset for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and it is associated with a higher number of periprocedural complications and an increased rate of in-stent thrombosis and restenosis. Adequate lesion preparation plays a crucial role in achieving a favorable PCI outcome. Rotational Atherectomy (RA) is a well-established plaque-modifying method; nevertheless, the data regarding the effectiveness of RA in LM diseases is scarce. Recently, the novel ShockWave-Intravascular-Lithotripsy(S-IVL) device has been introduced to the PCI armamentarium in order to modify the calcified plaque., Methods: We performed a retrospective evaluation of 44 consecutive subjects who underwent the LM-PCI, and who were supported by either the RA or S-IVL., Results: The Rota group consisted of 29 patients with a mean syntax score of 28.0 ± 7.5. The S-IVL group was composed of 15 subjects with a syntax score of 23.3 ± 13.0 There were no statistical differences regarding MACE between the RA and Shockwave arms of the in-hospital group (10.3% vs. 6.7%), or in the six month (17.2% vs. 13.3%) follow-up group., Conclusions: RA and S-IVL could be safe and effective therapeutic strategies for calcified LM disease. Further studies with a higher number of participants and longer follow-up times are warranted to establish the potential benefits of RA and S-IVL for the management of LM stenosis.