According to the American Heart Association®, 8 million to 12 million Americans have peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition that reduces or blocks blood flow to the legs, feet and arms. Some patients with PAD may experience numbness, tingling or pain in the feet or legs, while others may have no symptoms at all. People age 50 and older, smokers, those with diabetes or high blood pressure, and those with a personal or family history of coronary artery disease are at higher risk for PAD.

PAD can be treated with lifestyle changes, medication, surgery or endovascular procedures, which usually target larger blood vessels located above the knees. However, a new type of endovascular surgery available at Saint Francis Medical Center's Heart Institute offers new hope for patients with blocked arteries in the small blood vessels located below the knees. The new MiniHawk™ Plaque Excision System is used to open vessels as small as 1.5 millimeters (or about the size of a pinhead).

"The MiniHawk is an excellent tool we can use in a growing number of patients with blockages below the knee," says John C. Wiggans, MD, FACS, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon on staff at Saint Francis' Heart Institute. "With the MiniHawk, we are able to restore blood flow to peripheral arteries and treat blockages that we were previously unable to treat. The results are instant."

The MiniHawk is inserted through a catheter, a long narrow tube, into an artery in the groin and directed to the narrowed or blocked artery. It uses a miniature blade to shave, capture and remove plaque from the inside of the vessel. The outpatient procedure takes less than an hour and helps prevent amputations, a common complication of PAD. According to Wiggans, patients experience instant pain relief and can resume most normal activities the next day, avoiding any heavy lifting for about a week.

From Weekly Health Page: Feb. 18, 2007