Orbital Atherectomy and Heavily Calcified Saphenous Vein Graft Intervention.

Percutaneous coronary intervention in the diseased saphenous vein graft differs significantly from that in the diseased native coronary artery. After being exposed to arterial pressures over time, vein grafts have substantially different plaque characteristics, with more inflammatory cells, more diffuse disease, and less calcification. Severe calcification of saphenous vein grafts, although uncommon, poses a high risk of stent underexpansion. Orbital atherectomy for treatment of de novo calcified coronary lesions has been associated with better outcomes at 5-year follow-up. However, there are no published data on the use of orbital atherectomy to treat severely calcified saphenous vein graft lesions. We present the case of a 77-year-old woman with non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction who underwent successful orbital atherectomy to prepare a severely calcified saphenous vein graft lesion for stent implantation.