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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffCoronary angioplasty (AN-jee-o-plas-tee), also referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is a procedure used to open clogged heart arteries. Angioplasty involves temporarily inserting and blowing up a tiny balloon where your artery is clogged to help widen the artery.
Angioplasty is often combined with the placement of a small metal coil called a stent in the clogged artery to help prop the artery open and decrease the chance of it narrowing again (restenosis). Some stents are coated with medication to help keep your artery open (drug-eluting stents) while others are not (bare-metal stents).
Angioplasty can improve some of the symptoms of blocked arteries, such as chest pain and shortness of breath. Angioplasty can also be used during a heart attack to quickly open a blocked artery and reduce the amount of damage to your heart.
- Angioplasty. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Angioplasty/Angioplasty_All.html. Accessed Oct. 31, 2008.
- Stent procedure. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4721. Accessed Oct. 31, 2008.
- Aroesty JM, et al. Patient information: Percutaneous coronary intervention. http//www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 23, 2008.
- Cutlip D, et al. General principles of the use of intracoronary stents. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 23, 2008.
- Carrozza JP, et al. Periprocedural complications of percutaneous coronary intervention. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 23, 2008.
- King SB, et al. 2007 update of the ACC/AHA/ SCAI 2005 guideline update for percutaneous coronary intervention. Circulation. 2008;117:261.
- Hannan EL. Drug-eluting stents vs. coronary-artery bypass grafting in multivessel coronary disease. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;358:351.
- Levin T, et al. Intracoronary stent restenosis. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 23, 2008.
