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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffCoronary angioplasty (AN-jee-o-plas-tee), also called 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 permanent placement of a small wire mesh tube called a stent to help prop the artery open and decrease the chance of it narrowing again. 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. 13, 2010.
- Cardiac procedures and surgeries. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/PreventionTreatmentofHeartAttack/Cardiac-Procedures-and-Surgeries_UCM_303939_Article.jsp. Accessed Oct. 13, 2010.
- Cutlip D, et al. General principles of the use of intracoronary stents. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 13, 2010.
- Carrozza JP, et al. Periprocedural complications of percutaneous coronary intervention. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 13, 2010.
- King SB, et al. 2007 update of the ACC/AHA/ SCAI 2005 guideline update for percutaneous coronary intervention. Circulation. 2008;117:261.
- Levin T, et al. Intracoronary stent restenosis. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 13, 2010.
- Cutlip D, et al. Bypass surgery versus percutaneous intervention in the management of stable angina pectoris: Recommendations. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 13, 2010.
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