Angioplasty (Print Version)

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Angioplasty

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/angioplasty.html

Also called: Also called: Balloon angioplasty

If you have coronary artery disease, the arteries in your heart are narrowed or blocked by a sticky material called plaque. Angioplasty is a procedure to restore blood flow through the artery.

The doctor threads a thin tube through a blood vessel in the arm or groin up to the involved site in the artery. The tube has a tiny balloon on the end. When the tube is in place, the doctor inflates the balloon to push the plaque outward against the wall of the artery. This widens the artery and restores blood flow.

Doctors may use angioplasty to

Reduce chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart
Minimize damage to heart muscle from a heart attack

Each year more than a million people in the United States have coronary angioplasty.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

Angioplasty(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Angioplasty/Angioplasty_WhatIs.html
Coronary Angiogram and Angioplasty(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplasty/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplastyspanish/htm/index.htm
Stents(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/stents/stents_whatis.html

Overviews

Balloon Angioplasty and Stents(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Proced/angioplasty.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics_Esp/Proced/angioplasty_sp.cfm
Coronary Angioplasty and Stenting: Opening Clogged Heart Arteries(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/angioplasty/HQ00485/METHOD=print

Latest News

Heart Docs Often Fail to Order Tests Before Angioplasty(10/14/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_70431.html
Some Arteries Opened Safely Without Heparin(10/09/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_70272.html
Angioplasty Not Cost-Effective for Chronic Coronary Disease(09/24/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_69679.html
More News on Angioplasty http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alphanews_a.html#angioplasty

Rehabilitation/Recovery

Cardiac Rehabilitation: Building a Better Life After Heart Disease(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/cardiac-rehabilitation/HB00017/METHOD=print

Related Issues

Angioplasty and Stenting(Society for Vascular Surgery) - http://www.vascularweb.org/patients/NorthPoint/Angioplasty_and_Stenting.html
Angioplasty, Laser(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4446
Atherectomy(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4433
Drug-Eluting Stents: Do They Increase Heart Attack Risk?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/drug-eluting-stents/HB00090/METHOD=print
Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/drugs/glycoprotein-iib-iiia-inhibitors/hic_glycoprotein_iib-iiia_inhibitors.aspx

Tutorials

Coronary Angiogram and Angioplasty(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplasty/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplastyspanish/htm/index.htm

Videos

Cardiac Catheterization with Angioplasty and Stent Placement(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - 6/14/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM-400x300/stm_1994/rnh.cfm?id=573
Cardiac Catheterization with Angioplasty and Stent Placement(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - 5/16/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=526
Cryoplasty Therapy: Innovative Technique to Remedy Blood Vessel Blockage Resulting from Peripheral Arterial Disease(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - 5/02/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=498
Procedures for Improving Circulation to the Legs(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - 5/10/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=511

Anatomy/Physiology

How the Heart Works(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hhw/hhw_whatis.html

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Angioplasty(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=angioplasty

Research

Risk and Outcome Similar for Bypass Surgery, Drug-Eluting Stents(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3047057

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Cardiovascular outcomes after a change in prescription policy for clopidogrel. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18946065&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Frequency of stress testing to document ischemia prior to elective... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18854538&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Percutaneous coronary intervention for myocardial infarction with left ventricular dysfunction. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18722190&tool=MedlinePlus
Angioplasty -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=angioplasty[majr]+NOT+coronary+artery+bypass[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Heart Surgery Terms(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/otherresources/heartsurgterms/

Organizations

American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/

Statistics

Angioplasty and Cardiac Revascularization Statistics(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4439

Women

Angioplasty and Stents(Cardiovascular Research Foundation) - http://www.hearthealthywomen.org/index.php?view=article&id=143&Itemid=1&option=com_content

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/coronaryarterybypasssurgery.html
Coronary Artery Disease - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/coronaryarterydisease.html
Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html
Surgery and Rehabilitation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/surgeryandrehabilitation.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Angioplasty is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/

Angioplasty - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/angioplasty.html

Date last updated: October 15 2008

Topic last reviewed: October 13 2008