Volume 106, Issue 1 pp. 336-348
ORIGINAL ARTICLE - CLINICAL SCIENCE

Safety and Efficacy of Intravascular Lithotripsy in Calcified Left Main Coronary Artery Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Shanmukh Sai Pavan Lingamsetty

Shanmukh Sai Pavan Lingamsetty

Internal Medicine, Mamata Medical College, Khammam, India

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Harshith Thyagaturu

Corresponding Author

Harshith Thyagaturu

Department of Cardiology, West Virginia University Heart and Vascular Institute, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

Correspondence: Harshith Thyagaturu ([email protected])

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Sahib Singh

Sahib Singh

Internal Medicine, Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

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Avinashsingh Eswarsingh

Avinashsingh Eswarsingh

Department of cardiology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA

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Shwetha Gopal

Shwetha Gopal

Department of Cardiology, Bassett Medical Center, New York, USA

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Dipesh Ludhwani

Dipesh Ludhwani

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, Easton, Maryland, USA

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Ademola Ajibade

Ademola Ajibade

Department of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

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Vijaykumar Sekar

Vijaykumar Sekar

Department of Endocrinology, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Pennsylvania, USA

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Vikrant Jagadeesan

Vikrant Jagadeesan

Department of Cardiology, West Virginia University Heart and Vascular Institute, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

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First published: 24 April 2025

ABSTRACT

Background

Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) has emerged as a novel therapeutic modality for the management of calcified coronary lesions. The effectiveness and safety of IVL specifically in the context of left main disease remains uncertain and limited. We performed a meta-analysis to consolidate existing data.

Methods

Online databases Medline, Embase, Cochrane were searched for studies using IVL during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of calcified left main disease. The outcomes of interest were procedural success, procedural complications and cardiovascular (CV) events. Pooled proportions with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model.

Results

A total of 10 studies with 435 patients (mean age 73.1 years, 73.1% males) were included. The pooled outcomes were procedural success 98.8% (95% CI 95.58−100), perforation 0.02% (95% CI 0.00−0.87), major dissection 0.87% (95% CI 0.00−3.97), slow-flow/no-reflow 0.27% (95% CI 0.00−1.47) and abrupt vessel closure 0.01% (95% CI 0.00−1.01). In-hospital CV events were major adverse CV events (MACE) 2.14% (95% CI 0.64−4.21), death 0.96% (95% CI 0.00−2.98), CV death 0.46% (95% CI 0.00−2.17), myocardial infarction (MI) 0.94% (95% CI 0.04−2.56), stent thrombosis 0.99% (95% CI 0.00−6.14) and target vessel revascularization 0% (95% CI 0.00−0.32). Thirty-day outcomes were MACE 4.79% (95% CI 1.51−9.35), mortality 3.09% (95% CI 0.00−9.69) and MI 2.25% (95% CI 0.45−4.95).

Conclusions

Use of IVL during PCI of calcified left main disease is associated with a favorable procedural rates of success, with low risk of procedural complications and ischemic events.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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