Treatment Overview

Angioplasty and related techniques are known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Angioplasty is a procedure in which a narrowed section of the coronary artery is widened. Angioplasty is less invasive and has a shorter recovery time than bypass surgery, which is also done to increase blood flow to the heart muscle but requires open-heart surgery. Most of the time stents are placed during angioplasty.

An angioplasty is done using a thin, soft tube called a catheter. A doctor inserts the catheter into a blood vessel in the groin or wrist. The doctor carefully guides the catheter through blood vessels until it reaches the blocked portion of the coronary artery.

Cardiac catheterization, also called coronary angiography, is performed first to identify any blockages.

View the slideshow on angioplasty for coronary artery disease to see how an angioplasty is done.

Stents

A small, expandable wire tube called a stent is often permanently inserted into the artery during angioplasty. A very thin guide wire is inside the catheter. The guide wire is used to move a balloon and the stent into the coronary artery. A balloon is placed inside the stent and inflated, which opens the stent and pushes it into place against the artery wall. The balloon is then deflated and removed, leaving the stent in place. Because the stent is meshlike, the cells lining the blood vessel grow through and around the stent to help secure it.

Stenting should:

• Open up the artery and press the plaque against the artery walls, thereby improving blood flow.
• Keep the artery open after the balloon is deflated and removed.
• Seal any tears in the artery wall.
• Prevent the artery wall from collapsing or closing off again (restenosis).
• Prevent small pieces of plaque from breaking off, which might cause a heart attack.

Stent placement is standard during most angioplasty procedures.

Your doctor may use a bare metal stent or a drug-eluting stent. Drug-eluting stents are coated with medicine that helps keep the artery open after angioplasty.

What To Expect After Treatment

After angioplasty, you will be moved to a recovery room or to the coronary care unit. Your heart rate, pulse, and blood pressure will be closely monitored and the catheter insertion site checked for bleeding. You may have a large bandage or a compression device on your groin or arm at the catheter insertion site to prevent bleeding. You will be instructed to keep your leg straight if the insertion site is near your groin area.