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The University of Pécs Clinical Centre Heart Institute performs the highest number of a specific type of angioplasty in the country, a procedure that helps patients whose calcified arteries cannot be adequately dilated using conventional methods. Experts from several European countries are also interested in the procedure, which was most recently presented in Miercurea Ciuc. At the request of Abbott, the procedures are directed and supervised by Dr. Attila Kónyi, associate professor and head of the pacemaker working group at the Heart Institute in Pécs.

Abbott Laboratories is a leading American multinational medical technology and healthcare company focusing on medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition, and branded generic drugs, and is in the global forefront in several cardiovascular fields. The company has developed a device that features a diamond-coated crown designed to clean calcified arteries and perform high-speed, elliptical movements within the blood vessel. It can break down deposits into small micrometre-sized particles that are flushed out during microcirculation, thereby preventing embolization; it can also break up the entire plaque, restoring the elasticity of the blood vessel’s affected section.

“We use this surgical procedure in cases where the arteries are severely calcified, and conventional methods are ineffective. The so-called ‘orbital atherectomy’ is a type of coronary plaque modification procedure. It gets its name from the fact that the device performing the cleaning does not move like a drill within the blood vessel, but rather in an eccentric, orbital (circular) path. According to the data so far, the method is highly effective and safe. Since our clinic has performed the highest number of these procedures in Hungary since 2023, Abbott has asked me to serve as a proctor for these procedures both in Hungary and across Europe. The programme was launched a few months ago; so far, I have been to centres in Zalaegerszeg, Kaposvár, and Miercurea Ciuc, Romania, where they had not used this method before,” said Dr. Attila Kónyi, associate professor and head of the pacemaker working group at the Heart Institute in Pécs.

He emphasised that while the procedure itself is not complicated, establishing the correct indication and selecting the optimal patients are crucial. A thorough surgical plan is prepared before every procedure, and for the first cases, an experienced proctor is brought in to review the patient’s preliminary examination prior to surgery and recommend the appropriate strategy.

Dr. Attila Kónyi will travel to Kecskemét and Győr later this semester, and then likely to several European countries, as many specialists are interested in this type of surgery.

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Dr. Attila Kónyi