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Newark, NJ - For more than a year, Florence
Davis of Hillside, NJ struggled with a persistent wound on her
foot and restricted blood circulation in her leg so severe that
doctors were considering amputation. Eighty-one years young and
determined to keep her foot, Mrs. Davis sought out the wound care
and vascular specialists at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center who
applied a new ultra-cold catheter technique to open several blockages
in the arteries and save her leg—without surgery.
Mrs. Davis had one of the classic symptoms of peripheral artery
disease (PAD) but was unaware of its seriousness. The pain in her
calf muscle became so severe she said, “I would have to stop
after walking only a short ways.” Then Mrs. Davis got a cut
on her toe that would not heal—another symptom of PAD. She
turned to the Advanced Wound Care and Hyperbaric Institute at Newark
Beth Israel Medical Center for help.
Aggressive wound care treatment began, but vascular tests showed
three complete blockages in the artery that runs from her hip to
her toe. Mrs. Davis was in constant debilitating pain. Circulation
had to be restored, but she was not a candidate for the traditional
vascular bypass surgery that transplants blood vessels from a healthy
limb to replace blocked vessels.
The wound care specialists referred Mrs. Davis to Madhu Salvaji,
DO, an interventional cardiologist specializing in minimally invasive
endovascular procedures and one of only a handful of physicians
in New Jersey using the sophisticated Polarcath system that combines
angioplasty and cold therapy to open arteries and help prevent
future blockages in the same location. “Cooling the blood
vessel down to -10 degrees Celsius as the balloon is inserted in
the clogged artery, causes targeted cell death and alters the new
cells that will replace them, greatly reducing the chances of a
future blockage,” explained Dr. Salvaji. Altogether, Dr.
Salvaji opened three blockages using a combination of cold catheter,
stent placement and artherectomy, a delicate process of removing
plaque from the artery walls.
“All I had to do was lie still,” said Mrs. Davis about
the three minimally invasive procedures that were performed in
stages. Within two weeks, the swelling in her foot disappeared,
her toe was healed and she was back to her daily walking, shopping
and gardening.
For more information about advanced wound care or treatment for
peripheral artery disease at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center,
please call 1-888-SBHS-123.
Date: June 17, 2009
Contact: Caren Malone
(973) 322-4017
Public Relations Department
Saint Barnabas Health Care System
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