St. Peter’s Hospital is one of 150 hospitals across the country taking part in a major clinical trial.
St. Peter’s Hospital began participating in the trial, called ECLPISE, two months ago under the supervision of Dr. Eric Roccario, an interventional cardiologist at Albany Associates in Cardiology, a practice of St. Peter’s Health Partners Medical Associates.
Conducted by Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (CSI) in partnership with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, ECLIPSE is a prospective, multi-center randomized clinical trial of approximately 2,000 patients with severely calcified coronary lesions. Such lesions are complex and often difficult to treat.
The trial seeks to evaluate orbital atherectomy vessel preparation compared to conventional angioplasty, or balloon treatment. CSI’s Diamondback 360 coronary orbital atherectomy system, which Dr. Roccario is using at St. Peter’s Hospital, is an FDA-approved device that uses a rotational device to essentially sand and remove calcium from the artery, making it easier to place a drug-eluting stent.
Dr. Roccario’s first patient, randomized to orbital atherectomy, had a successful outcome, and returned home the same day as the procedure. This patient, as well as others participating in the study, will be followed for a year, if not longer.
This trial is the largest such of its kind in exclusively severely calcified lesions. The findings could have a lasting impact on treatment guidelines for options for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty.
St. Peter’s Hospital is a proven leader in heart care, recently receiving reaccreditation as a national Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI. The minimally invasive procedure opens narrowed or blocked coronary arteries with a balloon to relieve symptoms of heart disease or reduce heart damage during or after a heart attack.
Samaritan Hospital in Troy also received Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI Accreditation. To earn this designation, both St. Peter’s and Samaritan hospitals proved exceptional competency in treating patients with heart attack symptoms and offer primary PCI 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
