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
- 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
- Stents(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/stents/stents_whatis.html
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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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Coronary Angiogram and Angioplasty(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplasty/htm/index.htm
- 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
- How the Heart Works(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hhw/hhw_whatis.html
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Angioplasty(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=angioplasty
- Risk and Outcome Similar for Bypass Surgery, Drug-Eluting Stents(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3047057
- 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
- Heart Surgery Terms(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/otherresources/heartsurgterms/
- American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
- Angioplasty and Cardiac Revascularization Statistics(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4439
- Angioplasty and Stents(Cardiovascular Research Foundation) - http://www.hearthealthywomen.org/index.php?view=article&id=143&Itemid=1&option=com_content
- 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