Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 April 2005
I have previously reported the successful use of the 0.9 millimetre excimer laser catheter in 2 neonates with pulmonary valvar atresia and intact ventricular septum. In this report, I describe the expanded role of the excimer laser in a premature infant weighing 1.8 kilograms who presented with an occluded right pulmonary artery secondary to an organized thrombus. Successful reconstruction of the right pulmonary artery was performed by sequential use of lasers of 0.9, 1.4, and 2 millimetres diameter, followed by conventional balloon angioplasty. As is now the situation in adults, laser catheter intervention should now be an integral part of the armamentarium of the paediatric cardiac interventionalist.