PRNEWSWIRE NEWSFAX

 Food and Drug Administration Says PLC Systems Can Stop Randomizing Patients to
              Medical Management in Multicenter TMR Clinical Trials

              Patients Previously Randomized to Medical Management
                   can be Crossed-Over to TMR after 12 Months

      FRANKLIN,  Mass.,  Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/  -- PLC Systems Inc. (AMEX:  PLC)
today  announced  that the Food and Drug  Administration  (FDA) has notified the
Company that it can halt the randomization of patients to the medical management
group   in   a   study   comparing   patients   who   receive    Transmyocardial
Revascularization  (TMR) using the Company's CO2 Heart Laser to medical therapy.
In addition,  those  patients  previously  randomized to the medical  management
group may then receive TMR using The Heart Laser after 12 months follow-up.

      "Due to the dramatic  differences in the clinical outcomes between the TMR
group and the  medical  therapy  group the FDA has  allowed  PLC Systems to stop
randomizing  patients to medical  management at centers which are performing TMR
using The Heart Laser. The principal  investigators at each hospital center have
been notified of this recent developement,"  stated M. Lee Hibbs,  President and
CEO of PLC Systems  Inc.  "Moreover,  the  patient  outcome  data shows  medical
management to be ineffective,  and supports the use of TMR using The Heart Laser
as a replacement for medical/drug  therapy in end-stage  coronary artery disease
patients."

      Results of a controlled,  randomized study comparing  patients who receive
TMR using the CO2 Heart Laser to medical management demonstrated that 71% of the
TMR  patients  recorded a decrease of at least two angina  classes,  whereas all
patients  within the medical  therapy  group  either  remained the same or their
condition  worsened.  This  study  also  provided  a  direct  comparison  of the
mortality rates associated with TMR and medical therapy.  The overall  mortality
in the  TMR  group  was 6%.  In  contrast,  the  mortality  rate in the  medical
management group was 16%.


      Mr. Hibbs concluded,  "Although the randomized clinical trial of TMR using
The Heart Laser in end-stage  coronary artery disease  patients has ended,  this
patient group will continue to be treated at the Company's sites with no risk of
randomization.  As well, the Company is managing two additional  studies for The
Heart Laser -- TMR versus repeat cardiac bypass surgery and TMR as an adjunct to
cardiac bypass surgery."


      PLC Systems Inc. is a cardiac  revascularization  company whose mission is
to  be  the  global  leader  in  Transmyocardial   Revascularization   (TMR)  by
pioneering,  developing and supplying TMR systems and their components.  TMR has
the potential to provide patients suffering from coronary artery disease a third
alternative or adjunct to angioplasty  and cardiac bypass  surgery.  PLC Medical
Systems,  Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of PLC Systems Inc., has developed the
CO2 Heart Laser which employs the Company's patented  heart-synchronized  pulsed
laser system  technology for TMR. PLC Systems has been granted  expedited review
of its PreMarket  Approval (PMA)  application for TMR using The Heart Laser (TM)
to  treat  cardiac  patients  with a  medically  refractory  angina  who are not
canidates for angioplasty or bypass surgery.




                                    -more-

  

     NOTE:  Certain of the above  statements may be  forward-looking  statements
that involve risks and  uncertainties.  In such instances,  actual results could
differ  materially  as a result of a variety  of factors  including  competitive
developments  and risk  factors  listed from time to time in the  Company's  SEC
reports. 

SOURCE PLC Systems Inc. 
- -0-                                     9/10/96

     /CONTACT:  Michele  Fasano,  Director of  Corporate  Communications  of PLC
Systems, 800-211-7327, or Tom Wicky of Grob Strategic, 617-497-8400/ (PLC)