I have a keen interest in ‘unclogging’ completely blocked heart arteries in a condition known as chronic total occlusion.
It used to be that chronic total occlusions (CTO), ie. completely blocked arteries, could only be treated using open heart bypass surgery. But with the advent of new percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) technology and the training of CTO operators like myself, these CTOs can now be treated using non-surgical means.
Persistence and patience is key, as some CTO interventions can take more than 3 hours to perform successfully. The longest time I spent on a CTO case was 7 hours!