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AngioplastyThis page contains recent news articles, when available, and an overview of Angioplasty but does not offer medical advice. You should contact your physician with regard to any health issues or concerns.News: Angioplasty By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY. NEW ORLEANS — Thousands of people with crushing chest pain who once opted for angioplasty as a quick fix may change their ... USA TODAY - USA Today Study: Clot-buster before angioplasty could hurt - Sep 6, 2005 STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — The common practice of giving heart attack patients a clot-busting drug within hours of planned angioplasty could be dangerous, ... USA TODAY - USA Today Study Questions Angioplasty Use in Some Patients - Nov 15, 2006 M. Spencer Green/AP. Dr. Judith S. Hochman of New York University School of Medicine conducted a study of angioplasty and stents in heart attack patients. ... New York Times Angioplasty not always good medicine - Nov 14, 2006 CHICAGO — Associated Press Published on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006 8:00PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Apr. 07, 2009 2:21AM EDT. New research has overturned one ... Globe and Mail Angioplasty for Sir Paul? Docs Say Possible - Jan 2, 2008 By DAN CHILDS. The 65-year-old former Beatle Paul McCartney may have had an angioplasty procedure to open up a blocked heart artery, according to British ... ABC News Angioplasty Needs More Follow-Up Than Bypass: Study - Sep 1, 2008 While bypass surgery and angioplasty offer similar results for heart patients with clogged arteries, those who have angioplasties are twice as likely to ... Washington Post Exercise beats angioplasty for some heart patients - Salon.com - Aug 30, 2009 By MARIA CHENG. Working up a sweat may be even better than angioplasty for some heart patients, experts say. Studies have shown heart patients benefit from ... Salon Exercise beats angioplasty for some heart patients - Sep 1, 2009 AP foreign, Tuesday September 1 2009. AP Medical Writer= BARCELONA, Spain (AP) â€�? Working up a sweat may be even better than angioplasty for some heart ... The Guardian Effient Sanctioned for Angioplasty Patients - Jul 10, 2009 FRIDAY, July 10 (HealthDay News) -- The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Eli Lilly ( LLY - news - people ) blood-thinner Effient (prasugrel) ... Forbes Long-term survival same with angioplasty or bypass - Oct 16, 2007 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For people with heart disease who need a procedure to unblock their clogged coronary arteries, angioplasty or coronary artery ... Reuters UK Gerald Ford undergoes successful angioplasty - Aug 25, 2006 Former President Ford smiles after a visit by President Bush at Ford's California home on April 23, 2006. ROCHESTER, Minnesota (CNN) -- Former President ... CNN International New study backs angioplasty through the wrist - Aug 19, 2008 By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY. About a million artery-clearing angioplasties are performed in the United States each year, and the usual route is to thread a ... USA TODAY - USA Today Clot Busters Before Angioplasty Linked to Increased Death Risk - Sep 8, 2005 By Charlene Laino. Giving clot-busters to heart attack victims who are scheduled for balloon angioplasty could cost them their lives, new research shows. ... FOXNews Bypass surgery safer than angioplasty for some: study - Mar 20, 2009 Newer drug-eluting stents like this one were not included in the analysis. (AP Photo/Boston Scientific, File ). Heart bypass surgery may be less deadly than ... CBC.ca The Nation; Angioplasty favored over drug treatment; A study finds it... - May 9, 2007 Dr. Paul Erne of the Kantonsspital Luzern in Switzerland and his colleagues at two other hospitals studied 201 patients who had suffered a heart attack and ... Pay-Per-View - Los Angeles Times - ProQuest Archiver With Angioplasty, More Is Better - Nov 12, 2008 WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Heart attack patients who undergo emergency coronary angioplasty at community hospitals are more likely to survive if ... Washington Post Rams interim coach Vitt has angioplasty - Oct 31, 2005 ST. LOUIS - Joe Vitt, the St. Louis Rams' interim head coach while Mike Martz recovers from a heart ailment, underwent a heart procedure of his own Monday. ... msnbc.com President Ford's angioplasty a success, spokeswoman says - Aug 26, 2006 By Chris Williams, AP | August 26, 2006. MINNEAPOLIS -- Gerald Ford underwent his second heart procedure in a week at the Mayo Clinic when stents were ... Boston Globe Quick Angioplasty Best After Heart Attacks - Jun 24, 2009 WEDNESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- A new Canadian study adds compelling support for current recommendations that people who first get clot-dissolving ... Forbes McCartney: I didn't have angioplasty - Jan 31, 2008 NEW YORK (AP) — Paul McCartney says recent media reports that he had a heart procedure last year are "entirely untrue." "People are ringing and texting me ... USA TODAY - USA Today Robotic Arm for angioplasty arrives at Hiranandani Hospital - May 11, 2007 The world's first robotic arm for angioplasty arrives in India at the renowned Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, Mumbai. With this Dr LH Hiranandani ... Moneycontrol.com Jackets' Gailey has heart attack, undergoes angioplasty - Mar 15, 2005 Georgia Tech football coach Chan Gailey suffered a heart attack yesterday while playing racquetball at the campus recreation center in Atlanta. ... San Diego Union - Tribune - San Diego Union Tribune Q&A: Primary angioplasty - Oct 18, 2008 Hundreds of lives could be saved if all eligible heart attack patients in England had access to primary angioplasty, ministers say. ... BBC News Drugs, exercise as good as angioplasty - Mar 27, 2007 Globe and Mail Update Published on Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2007 12:50PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 10:26PM EDT. Opening up blocked arteries using ... Globe and Mail Study: Kidney angioplasty brings risks, no benefit - Nov 11, 2009 By LINDA A. JOHNSON. If you're among the hundreds of thousands of Americans with clogged kidney arteries, you might want to consider trying medicines before ... Salon Trenton to Let More Clinics Perform Angioplasty - Nov 1, 2005 By JOSH BENSON. Nine New Jersey hospitals without cardiac surgery units will be allowed to perform elective angioplasty for the first time next year under a ... New York Times Access to angioplasty is an hour away for most Canadians - Feb 2, 2010 Globe and Mail Update Published on Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 7:15PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 7:32PM EST. Almost two-thirds of Canadian adults ... Globe and Mail Senate chief has angioplasty: Jones to resume work next week. - Jan 4, 2006 Jan. 4--SPRINGFIELD -- Senate President Emil Jones Jr. underwent an angioplasty Tuesday to clear a partially clogged heart artery after experiencing ... Free with registration - Chicago Tribune - AccessMyLibrary.com Researchers: Medication Better Than Angioplasty for Clogged Kidney … - Nov 12, 2009 Researchers are offering advise to hundreds of thousands of Americans with clogged kidney arteries: consider medication over angioplasty. ... FOXNews Coronary Heart Disease Angioplasty and Stents - Coronary Heart … - Sep 3, 2008 Dr. Peter Libby, a cardiologist at Harvard University, blogs on new research into heart disease. Find the safest and most cost-effective drugs for this ... New York Times … Cleared; The Palestinian leader undergoes angioplasty in Jordan. A... - Jun 2, 2005 Angioplasty is a common operation, undergone in the United States by more than a million people a year, to clear blockage of arteries that supply blood to ... Pay-Per-View - Los Angeles Times - ProQuest Archiver Hospitals Ill Equipped for Weekend Heart Attacks - Mar 15, 2007 And those are the hospitals that offer emergency angioplasty. ... Hospitals that can't offer angioplasty around the clock could be set up to refer heart ... NPR Many angios but only 200 get it in golden hr - Feb 2, 2010 ...“However, worldwide primary angioplasty is believed to give better results,'' said Pahlajani. Some figures indeed say that chemicals agents can open up ... Times of India Actor James Woods recovering after angioplasty - May 2, 2006 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oscar-nominated actor James Woods, whose credits include the films Salvador and Ghosts of Mississippi, was recovering at home Tuesday ... USA TODAY - USA Today Atherosclerosis Angioplasty and Stents - Atherosclerosis Health … - Jul 15, 2008 Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also called angioplasty, involves procedures such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) that ... New York Times Angioplasty may damage kidneys: study - Jun 30, 2007 Houston, June 30 (PTI): The most common procedure for clearing blocked kidney arteries can also release thousands of tiny particles into the bloodstream ... Hindu Satyam's tainted founder Ramalinga Raju undergoes angioplasty - Sep 15, 2009 HYDERABAD: B Ramalinga Raju, the defamed founder of Satyam Computers underwent angioplasty, a procedure to improve blood flow to the heart on Tuesday. ... Economic Times Calgary best place to have heart attack: study - Feb 5, 2010 ..."Treating people immediately with angioplasty can lead to lower death rates and better outcomes," researcher William Ghali said Thursday. ... CBC.ca Heart Disease Angioplasty and Stents - Heart Disease Health Informatio... - Apr 17, 2008 Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also called angioplasty, involves procedures such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) that ... New York Times For heart patients, bypass might be best - May 25, 2005 Heart patients with two or more blocked arteries live longer if they have bypass surgery than if they have their arteries cleared out with angioplasty and ... USA TODAY - USA Today US Rep-elect Lampson undergoes angioplasty | Top stories | Chron.com ... - Dec 22, 2006 By LINDSAY WISE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle. US Rep.-elect Nick Lampson underwent an angioplasty procedure to open a blocked vessel in his heart this ... Houston Chronicle Angioplasty protocol at some GTA hospitals was unclear - Nov 16, 2007 Southlake Regional Health Centre, Trillium Health Centre and St. Michael's Hospital provide primary emergency angioplasty procedures 24 hours a day, ... Toronto Star Bal Thackeray to undergo angioplasty - Jul 7, 2009 MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who has been admitted to a suburban hospital, will undergo angioplasty, hospital sources said on Tuesday. ... Times of India Angioplasty's golden era may be fading - Mar 26, 2008 ..."The rise of angioplasty procedures has leveled off and appears to be on the ... The research suggests angioplasty is used too often, and in many cases, ... USA TODAY - USA Today Angioplasty Device Recalled - Dec 8, 2005 Medical device maker Boston Scientific recalled 40000 implantable devices meant to treat blocked coronary arteries, saying it has received eight complaints ... Washington Post Exercise beats angioplasty, MDs told - Jan 7, 2010 Two-thirds of angioplasty candidates would be better off with regular exercise than the surgery, one expert says. BARCELONA, Spain -- Working up a sweat may ... Winnipeg Free Press Drug-releasing stents improve angioplasty outcome - Apr 4, 2007 By Will Boggs, MD. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In patients with heart disease, small metal tubes called "stents" are often inserted into the coronary ... Reuters UK Sharad Pawar undergoes angioplasty - Nov 12, 2006 NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar underwent angioplasty at the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre here on Saturday. ... Hindu Hale and hearty after angioplasty at 93 - Aug 23, 2005 MUMBAI: Zunaid Khan is no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he could well be a poster boy for healthy living in modern India. The great grandfather from Azamgarh, ... Times of India Angioplasty Via Wrist May Be Safer - Jan 20, 2009 TUESDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The best way of accessing and treating ailing hearts with angioplasty may be through the wrist, a US study finds. ... Washington Post Angioplasty - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis - - C-Health - Jan 24, 2010 Receive the latest health news, feature articles, and other health resources by subscribing to our FREE monthly Health Newsletter. ... CANOE Shas leader Yosef remains stable after angioplasty operation - Sep 19, 2006 By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH. Two metallic stents were inserted into a major coronary artery of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef at Hadassah University ... Jerusalem Post Statins may protect kidneys from angioplasty dyes - Apr 2, 2008 By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Statin drugs used to lower cholesterol may also protect the kidneys from dyes used during angioplasty procedures, ... Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Pittsburgh Post Gazette Study: Most angioplasties are not needed - Mar 29, 2007 The stunning results found that angioplasty did not save lives or prevent ... An even bigger surprise: Angioplasty gave only slight and temporary relief ... Jerusalem Post Oppn leader undergoes angioplasty, recuperating - May 27, 2009 PANAJI: Leader of the Opposition and Panaji MLA Manohar Parrikar underwent a successful angioplasty at the Apollo Victor hospital at Margao on Tuesday. ... Times of India Angioplasty - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis - Heart - C... - Jan 13, 2010 Receive the latest health news, feature articles, and other health resources by subscribing to our FREE monthly Health Newsletter. ... CANOE Study: Plavix before angioplasty saves lives - Sep 5, 2005 By Emma Ross. AP. STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Giving heart-attack patients a dose of "superaspirin" before rather than during a procedure to restore blood flow to ... Seattle Times Pinochet has heart attack, surgery - Dec 4, 2006 25, underwent angioplasty in the morning, his son Marco Antonio Pinochet said. He added that the procedure had "virtually rescued him from death. ... San Francisco Chronicle Angioplasty Proves Reasonable Alternative to Bypass Surgery - Mar 31, 2008 By Amanda Gardner. MONDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with blockages in the left main coronary artery, percutaneous coronary intervention ... Washington Post Experience Brings Better Angioplasty Outcomes - Feb 10, 2009 WEDNESDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The chances of a person surviving a heart attack roughly double if the victim receives treatment quickly from a ... Forbes New York Doctors May Avoid Angioplasty to Boost Score - Jan 10, 2005 By Michelle Fay Cortez. Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Four out of five New York cardiologists said they have avoided potentially life-saving procedures on ... Bloomberg Heart attack deaths drop by half - May 2, 2007 Doctors also appear more willing to do cardiac catheterisation and coronary angioplasty, both surgical procedures that restore normal blood flow within the ... New Scientist State's first trans radial angioplasty - Mar 27, 2006 MYSORE: For once, Mysore seems to have beaten Bangalore by carrying out State's first trans radial angioplasty, a cardiac treatment procedure in which a ... The Hindu Off-Hours Heart Patients Less Likely to Get Angioplasty - Apr 21, 2008 MONDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- Compared to heart attack patients who arrive at hospitals during weeknights, weekends and holidays, those who arrive ... Washington Post Discharge Time After Angioplasty Varies - May 7, 2009 THURSDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- While some heart patients can safely go home after having elective angioplasty (also known as percutaneous coronary ... Forbes Same-day angioplasty is safe, heart studies show - Nov 14, 2005 Author: MARILYNN MARCHIONE; AP. A growing number of people are getting their heart arteries unclogged at hospitals and going home the same day. ... $2.95 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram - NewsBank Premier hospital, high angioplasty death rate - Oct 1, 2006 By Jodi Hilton, Getty Images. By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY. The death rate for angioplasty in critically ill patients at one of the world's best-known ... USA TODAY - USA Today Camden-Clark gets OK for emergency angioplasty - Jan 26, 2010 AP. (AP) — PARKERSBURG, W.Va. - State regulators have approved Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital's application to perform emergency angioplasty. ... MLive.com The Nation; Clot vacuum aids angioplasty; A study shows that the... - Jun 6, 2008 A vacuum-cleaner-like device that sucks blood clots out of the arteries of heart attack victims before angioplasty reduces the death rate in the following ... Pay-Per-View - Los Angeles Times - ProQuest Archiver … a key heart procedure - Is cardiac angioplasty without surgical... - Oct 23, 2007 Is cardiac angioplasty without surgical backup safe? A S. Jersey dispute is part of a major study. Last year, more than 16000 patients in the eight-county ... $2.95 - Philadelphia Inquirer - NewsBank Angioplasty Outcomes May Vary Little Between Hospitals - Nov 25, 2009 By Ed Edelson. TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Do hospitals that conduct the most angioplasties necessarily produce the best results for patients? ... Yahoo! News Study challenges the urgency of angioplasty after an attack - It said... - Jun 15, 2005 It said heart patients can benefit up to 2 days after being stricken. The goal has been 12 hours. Author: Lindsey Tanner ASSOCIATED PRESS ... $2.95 - Philadelphia Inquirer - NewsBank Cubs GM Hendry Undergoes Angioplasty - Dec 7, 2006 By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer. Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry was too busy at the baseball winter meetings to worry about his health. ... San Francisco Chronicle Angioplasty for chest pain is no bargain: Study - Sep 25, 2008 CHICAGO (Sept 25, 2008): People who get surgery to ease chest pain from a blocked heart artery pay US$10000 more for about the same level of relief they can ... Sun Daily - The Sun Daily Sharon to undergo angioplasty - Dec 26, 2005 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will need to undergo a heart angioplasty in the next few weeks to solve a problem stemming from a congenital defect in his heart ... Ynetnews Angioplasty may damage kidneys: study - Jun 29, 2007 PTI. HOUSTON: The most common procedure for clearing blocked kidney arteries can also release thousands of tiny particles into the bloodstream that can ... Daily News & Analysis Traffic cop holds up speeding surgeon - Jan 12, 2010 By lunchtime, his condition had taken a turn for the worse and it was determined he would need immediate angioplasty surgery to open what turned out to be ... Toronto Star Raju undergoes angioplasty - Sep 16, 2009 Former Chairman of Satyam Computer, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, who suffered a heart attack recently underwent an angioplasty on Tuesday. ... Hindu Business Line Wilbon undergoes angioplasty after minor blockage discovered - Jan 29, 2008 Michael Wilbon, who co-hosts ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and writes a column for The Washington Post, remained hospitalized Tuesday, ... ESPN The Elderly Can Be Candidates for Angioplasty, Stenting - Mar 18, 2008 By Ed Edelson. TUESDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- People over 80 can safely have diagnostic radiology tests and procedures such as artery-opening ... Washington Post Drugs, angioplasty give similar life quality: study - Aug 14, 2008 By Gene Emery. BOSTON (Reuters) - Using drugs alone may take longer than angioplasty or stent surgery to help restore blood flow in patients with clogged ... Reuters India Drugs as good as stents for many heart patients - Aug 13, 2008 The slim early advantage for angioplasty at relieving pain in these ... Angioplasty remains the top treatment for people having a heart attack or ... msnbc.com Heart Attack Study Casts Doubt On Routine Use of Angioplasty - Mar 26, 2007 Propping open clogged arteries with a tiny wire-mesh tube called a stent is no better at reducing the risk of heart attack or death in patients with stable ... Washington Post Ariel Sharon to undergo angioplasty - Dec 27, 2005 Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo an angioplasty in January to close a tiny hole in his heart. His physicians on Monday said that ... IBNLive.com PROJECT AIMS TO SPEED UP CARE FOR HEART PATIENTS - - Nov 13, 2006 The preferred remedy is angioplasty, in which doctors snake a tube ... The goal is to provide angioplasty, an artery-clearing procedure, more quickly. ... $2.95 - San Jose Mercury News - NewsBank Medical therapy equal to bypass, angioplasty in patients with... - Jun 8, 2009 Optimal medical therapy for patients with diabetes and stable coronary heart disease is equally effective at lowering the risk of death, heart attack, ... Eureka! Science News Surgery Better Than Angioplasty for Narrowed Neck Artery - Aug 28, 2009 By Ed Edelson. FRIDAY, Aug. 28 (HealthDay News) -- The latest results from the longest-running study yet confirm that surgery is better than artery-opening ... U.S. News & World Report Julia Roberts relocates her mother - Jan 17, 2010 The 75-year-old underwent emergency heart surgery for an angioplasty procedure in a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, after suffering a reported heart attack ... Times of India Heart bypass better than stents, study says - Jan 23, 2008 Angioplasty has emerged as a non-surgical alternative, in which a balloon is pushed ... Bypass has become less common as angioplasty has risen dramatically. ... msnbc.com Hospital seeks funds for angioplasty centre - Nov 19, 2009 Windsor, Ont.'s Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital spokeswoman Kim Spirou shows plans for a $78M expansion, including a $12.5M angioplasty centre. (Tom Taylor/CBC) ... CBC.ca Palestinian leader undergoes angioplasty in Jordan - May 1, 2008 JERUSALEM — An aide says the Palestinian president has successfully undergone an angioplasty at a Jordanian hospital. Spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh says ... FOXNews Hospitals: National study finds delays for angioplasty after hours... - Aug 17, 2005 ...show he said. But at Sacred Heart Medical Center, only about 500 of the 5000 patients who use either of cath labs each year are admitted after hours. ... Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Study: Stent Procedures In Small Hospitals Getting Safer .Uf … - Mar 30, 2008 A popular treatment is angioplasty. Doctors push a tiny balloon into an artery, ... Small hospitals, which can earn 15000 or more on each angioplasty, ... Post And Courier - Google News Archive NJ board accepts angioplasty program for public review - Jul 19, 2007 The New Jersey Health Care Administration Board voted Thursday to accept for public review new regulations proposed by the state health commissioner that ... Bizjournals.com Drugs Offer Angioplasty Alternative - Sep 20, 2005 By GINA KOLATA. Consider this situation: A patient comes into an emergency room with a horrible feeling of pressure in the chest or a squeezing pain that ... New York Times Angioplasty at 75? - Aug 14, 2009 Angioplasty is a safe procedure when done by experts. When the patient is above 75 years, the procedure becomes technically difficult because of age-related ... The Hindu Another Blow for Angioplasty - Jun 5, 2009 By John Carey. There's a powerful logic to the argument that people will live longer and have fewer heart attacks if their clogged arteries are repaired ... BusinessWeek Angioplasty at 75? - Jul 26, 2009 Angioplasty is a safe procedure when done by experts. When the patient is above 75 years, the procedure becomes technically difficult because of age-related ... Hindu Boston Scientific OK'd to market angioplasty device - Sep 17, 2005 Natick-based Boston Scientific Corp. received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to market its new balloon for angioplasty. ... Boston Globe Cutting angioplasty time increases odds - May 21, 2009 NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 21 (UPI) -- Any delays in hospital-door-to-angioplasty times increase mortality risks for those who had heart attacks, US researchers ... UPI.com Background information on Angioplasty [When available] Angioplasty is the mechanical dilation of an artery that has been obstructed, generally due to atheroma (the lesion of atherosclerosis). Coronary angioplasty One way to unblock (open up the lumen) of a coronary artery (or other blood vessel) is angioplasty, or Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA). A wire is passed through the diseased coronary artery, to beyond the area of coronary artery that is being worked upon. Over this wire, a balloon catheter is passed into the segment that is to be opened up. The end of the catheter contains a small folded balloon. When the balloon is hydraulically inflated, it compresses the atheromatous plaque and streches the artery wall to expand. At the same time, if an expandable wire mesh tube (stent) was on the balloon, then the stent will be implanted (left behind) to support the new stretched open position of the artery from the inside. Angioplasty and stenting is performed through a thin flexible catheter during Cardiac Catheterization, often making heart surgery unnecessary. While coronary angioplasty has consistently been shown to reduce symptoms due to coronary artery disease and to reduce cardiac ischemia, it has not been shown in large trials to reduce mortality due to coronary artery disease. Traditional ("bare metal") coronary stents provide a mechanical framework that holds the artery wall open, preventing stenosis, or narrowing, of arteries feeding critical structures like the myocardium. Traditional stenting is superior to angioplasty alone in keeping arteries open. Newer stents (called drug-eluting stents) are coated with drugs that prevent re-stenosis of the artery. Two drugs, sirolimus and paclitaxel, have been demonstrated effective and safe in this application by stent device manufacturers and are being used in the US. This therapy is increasingly being used in Europe as well (e.g. in Switzerland about 80% of the stents used are coated with drugs). Risks of angioplasty include myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmia, bleeding and death. These events, fortunately, are uncommon, and the procedure is widely practiced. Coronary angioplasty is usually performed by an interventional cardiologist, a medical doctor with special training in the treatment of the heart using invasive catheter-based procedures. Angioplasty is often referred to as Dottering, after Dr C.T. Dotter, who, together with Dr M.P. Judkins, first described angioplasty (without the balloon) in 1964 (Circulation 1964;30:654-70). Peripheral angioplasty Peripheral angioplasty refers to the use of similar techniques in opening blood vessels other than the coronary arteries. It is often called percutaneous transluminal angioplasty or PTA for short. PTA is most commonly done to treat narrowings in the leg arteries, especially the common iliac, external iliac, superficial femoral and popliteal arteries. PTA can also be done to treat narrowings in veins. Renal artery angioplasty Atherosclerotic obstruction of the renal artery can be treated with angioplasty of the renal artery (percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty, PTRA). Renal artery stenosis can lead to hypertension and loss of renal function. Carotid angioplasty Generally, carotid artery stenosis is still not treated with angioplasty and stenting in most hospitals, due to the increased risk of embolic stroke with the procedure. Furthermore, it is not yet FDA approved. However, starting in the early 1990s with new anti-embolic devices designed to reduce or trap atheroma and clot debris, angioplasty and stenting is increasingly being used to also treat carotid stenosis, with success rates similar to carotid endarterectomy surgery. Simple angioplasty without stenting is falling out of favor in this vascular bed. A large trial comparing endarterectomy and stenting found stenting equally efficacious (Yadav et al 2004). From Wikipedia Background information on Search the web for more resources on Angioplasty |
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