Michael Megaly, MD, MS, FACC, FSCAI, interventional cardiologist with Willis-Knighton Cardiology, presented and was a panelist at CTO Plus 23 in New York City Feb. 23-24.
The annual conference, organized by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), brings together interventional cardiologists from around the world to discuss advances, techniques and research related to chronic total occlusions (CTO) and complex coronary artery interventions.
Dr. Megaly presented on a case in which he collaborated with Jonathan Davis, MD, FACC, FSCAI, of Pierremont Cardiology. Only 15 cases were chosen among hundreds submitted to be presented over the two-day conference.
The case involved a patient with a rare left main coronary artery occlusion, which represents .45% of all CTOs performed in the United States, Dr. Megaly said. “This case specifically was very high risk given the complicated anatomy. The patient had no option of surgery as she previously failed open heart surgery.”
Due to the complexity of the procedure, the physicians were forced to develop innovative techniques never before used at Willis-Knighton. “We have described our techniques in a paper that will be published soon in the Journal of Invasive Cardiology,” Dr. Megaly said.
The patient is now back to fully living her life free of symptoms.
“This speaks to the high quality of care and advances performed in the field of complex coronary interventions and chronic total occlusion interventions at Willis-Knighton,” Dr. Megaly said. “This is an evolving field with a previously unmet need in North Louisiana.”