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Coronary arteries carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart itself. In coronary
artery disease, a sticky material called plaque — cholesterol, calcium and
other substances from the blood — builds up inside them until parts of the
heart are underfed. Angioplasty widens the blocked stretch so more blood gets
through. Its formal name is percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI.
Here is the sentence people tend to miss: **angioplasty does not cure coronary
artery disease.** It restores flow through one narrowed segment. The process
that produced the narrowing is untouched, and preventing the next one depends
entirely on the prescribed medicines, food and regular exercise that follow.
The procedure buys back the artery; it does not buy back the years.
What it is used for
- Angina. Chest pain from blockages in the coronary arteries. There are
several types of angina and angioplasty treats certain ones, not all. - A heart attack, in progress or just after. Here it is an emergency
treatment, used to limit damage to the heart muscle.
The two uses look identical on the table and differ completely in urgency,
which is also why the recovery differs.
What actually happens
Most angioplasties take place in a hospital room called a cardiac
catheterisation lab — the "cath lab". You are awake and lying down,
sedated through an IV line in your hand or arm rather than put under. The
route in is a blood vessel in the arm, wrist or groin.
| Step | What the cardiologist does |
|---|---|
| 1 | Makes a small opening and inserts a catheter into the blood vessel |
| 2 | Threads it through to the heart, guided by x-ray |
| 3 | Injects contrast dye, which lights up the heart and vessels on the x-ray |
| 4 | Swaps the catheter for one carrying a small deflated balloon |
| 5 | Positions the balloon inside the blockage and inflates it, pressing the plaque flat against the artery wall |
| 6 | Often leaves a stent — a small mesh tube — to hold the artery open |
Some stents carry a drug coating that helps prevent clots forming on them.
Afterwards, and the risks
For an angioplasty done for chest pain: a recovery room for a few hours,
possibly a night in hospital, medicines to prevent blood clots, and **most
people return to their usual activities after about a week**. An emergency
angioplasty during a heart attack means a few more days in hospital — the
difference is the heart attack, not the procedure.
Angioplasty is very safe, with the caveat that every invasive procedure
carries risk. Commonly: bruising, soreness or some bleeding where the tubes
went in. Uncommonly but possibly: serious bleeding, blood clots, and the
artery narrowing again — which returns the story to where it began, and to
the medicines, food and exercise that decide whether it does.
Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, via MedlinePlus.
Licens: CC0 1.0 (allmän egendom) · Bearbetat efter medlineplus.gov
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