Coronary Intervention

Coronary Angioplasty

Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty is a technique used to widen a narrowing in your artery without surgery. The basic idea of angioplasty is to position a catheter with a small inflatable balloon on the end within the narrowed section of the artery. Inflation of the balloon catheter causes the balloon to push outward against the narrowing and surrounding wall of the artery. This process reduces the narrowing until it no longer interferes with blood flow. The balloon is then deflated and removed from the artery.

(Image used with permission from Medtronic)

Coronary Stenting

Many patients who have angioplasty also have stent implantation. A stent is a small, latticed, metal scaffold that is introduced into your blood vessel on a balloon catheter. The doctor will decide whether to choose a metallic stent of a drug eluting stent, depending on the location and condition of the narrowing in your coronary artery. The doctor maneuvers the catheter into the blocked artery and inflates the balloon. The stent expands against the vessel wall as the balloon is inflated. Once the balloon has been deflated and withdrawn, the stent stays in place permanently, holding the blood vessel open and improving blood flow.

(Image used with permission from Medtronic)