Donald Lee of East Hartford has his leg checked by UConn Health Center Cardiologist Kanwar Singh.
Dr. Singh was the first in New England to use an innovative new device to treat Lee's condition, which was severely limiting him. "There was a lot of tightness when I tried to walk. I could walk a little bit, but not far and it was almost like my legs were cramping up really, really bad. I had to stop all the time," says Lee.
His family doctor referred him to Dr. Singh at UConn, where a simple test that is sometimes overlooked was done. It's called an ABI test which measures... "Blood pressure in your arms versus blood pressure in your legs and if the blood pressure in your legs is too low it means there's something in the way," says Dr. Kanwar Singh, cardiologist.
A blockage was detected in an artery in lee's leg. It was peripheral arterial disease which affects about 25 percent of people over 50. With an aging population, the number of cases will be rising.
Through a small incision, Dr. Singh used the catheter to break through the plaque buildup caused by things like fat and cholesterol. "The wildcat is a new tool that helps us literally grind away at the plaque mass and stay centered inside the artery as it burrows down through the blockage."
The Wildcat can replace having to bypass a clogged artery, an invasive surgery. With the catheter, a balloon then opens the artery and a stent is used.
The procedure takes between half an hour to a few hours depending on how severe the blockage is and where it is in the leg.
Lee says the procedure and recovery were pain free, and now, so is he. "You couldn't really go and do like you wanted to. You want to go shopping. You were stopping all the time. Now I can go shop, do what I want to do like I did when I was younger."
Right now, the procedure must stop and start a lot, so xrays can be taken to see the artery, but a tiny video camera will soon change that. "What the wildcat now and future generations will offer is a real, simultaneous image of the artery as you look forward down that pipe which is totally different and totally new," says Dr. Singh.
Peripheral arterial disease, which clogs the artery, is the leading cause of amputation in patients over 50.
It also raises your risk for heart attack or stroke, a risk this procedure can bring down.
