Dyes May Aid in Coronary Treatment

Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and two other hospitals are testing the ability of various dyes to make artery clogging material more sensitive to laser beam treatment and to allow more precise control of the beams in treatment of coronary disease. Researchers have discovered that laser beams can literally vaporize muscle and fatty cells that cause blockages--but they are still trying to learn how to avoid puncturing blood vessel walls in the process. Doctors at Cedars, the University of Florida School of Medicine and at Seton Hospital in Daly City, Calif., said they do not now expect to replace coronary bypass surgery with laser techniques, but hope to make it a possible additional procedure useful for certain patients.