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Coronary Artery Chronic Total Occlusion
Our Institute has an organized program to identify and open coronary artery chronic total occlusions (CTO). A CTO is a complete blockage of a coronary artery that has been in place for 30 or days or longer.
What is a Coronary Artery Chronic Total Occlusion?
A coronary artery chronic total occlusion (CTO) is a complete blockage of a coronary artery that has been in place for 30 or more days.
How is Coronary Artery Chronic Total Occlusion Treated at Trihealth?
To diagnose a CTO, a routine physical exam with a careful medical history should be performed. Physicians may also order x-rays, an EKG, stress tests, CT scan, MRI, or an angiogram at various points in the process to help get a true understanding of the condition. Treatment options include:
Angioplasty
Our highly trained interventional cardiologists offer both traditional stent and wrist access angioplasty, which is a unique and "less disruptive" treatment option.
Chronic Total Occlusion Intervention
This procedure offers hope to patients with heart failure symptoms who cannot find relief from other medical modalities.
Cardiac Rehabilitation
People with heart disease can reach the highest possible levels of physical and mental performance with the help of our multidiscliplinary team.
Cardiac Bypass Surgery
Our specially trained cardiologists use various approaches, including minimally invasive procedures, to treat even the most severe cardiac cases.
How Chronic Total Occlusion Intervention Works
Our interventional cardiologists use a balloon catheter to gain access to the blocked vessel and a laser to vaporize the occlusion. This procedure, offered at TriHealth’s Bethesda North Hospital, gives hope to patients who cannot find relief from other medical modalities, alleviates heart failure symptoms and may improve survival rates. It can be performed on any coronary artery, although the right coronary is the most common. We perform 150 cases each year with an 87 percent success rate in opening totally blocked arteries.