June 2001

Marin General Hospital's cardiologists are using cutting edge technology to ease artery scarring in angioplasty patients. Artery exposure to radioactive seeds decreases an artery's tendency to build scar tissue in the three to nine months following the procedure.

"We will be able to perform coronary artery brachytherapy on five to ten patients a month who suffer from in-stent retinosis," said cardiologist Dr. Brian Strunk. "A small percentage of angioplasty patients develop a build up of excess scar tissue inside the blood vessel after angioplasty. Traditionally, these patients were brought back in for another angioplasty."

A tape impregnated with radioactive seeds (using very low dose Beta radiation) is fished through blood vessels with a catheter and placed inside the affected artery for a specified amount of time. This is done in cooperation with radiation oncologists. The tape and seeds are removed during the same procedure.



"These seeds help the scar tissue to shrink over time," Strunk said. The patient will stay overnight for observation.

Marin General is one of the few hospitals in the Bay Area to use this cardiac procedure. Approximately 350 angioplasties are performed each year at Marin General's first Cardiac Cath Lab, which opened in 1986.