Table of Contents
Surgery
Angioplasty and Stents
Angioplasty, also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), involves procedures such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) that help open the blocked artery.
Angioplasty can help reduce the frequency of angina attacks. It is commonly recommended for patients who have critically blocked arteries or have already had a recent, acute heart attack. Angioplasty can also help improve survival and prevent heart attacks in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, doctors have been uncertain about angioplasty's benefits for survival and heart attack prevention in lower-risk patients with stable coronary artery disease.
Angioplasty works no better than standard heart medication (drugs to control blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and prevent blood clots) in preventing heart attack, stroke, and hospitalization in patients with stable coronary artery disease. Doctors are now recommending angioplasty only for patients who have severe heart disease. For patients with stable heart disease, drug therapy may be sufficient enough treatment and allow them to safely defer having surgery.
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Click the icon to see an animation about percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. |
Procedure. A typical angioplasty procedure follows these steps:
Review Date: 05/05/2011
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine,
Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M.,
Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
