ANGIOPLASTY

ANGIOPLASTY
Angioplasty is the mechanical widening of a narrowed or totally-obstructed blood vessel. These obstructions are often caused by atherosclerosis.

Coronary angioplasty

1.)Coronary angioplasty is a "percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty". The procedure was quickly adopted by numerous cardiologists and many leading medical centers throughout the world were adopting the procedure as a method to avoid bypass surgery.

2.)A small mesh tube, or "stent", is introduced into the blood vessel or artery to prop it open using percutaneous methods. Angioplasty with stenting is a viable alternative to heart surgery.It has consistently been shown to reduce symptoms due to coronary artery disease and to reduce cardiac ischemia, but has not been shown in large trials to reduce mortality due to coronary artery disease, except in patients being treated for a heart attack acutely (also called primary angioplasty). There is a small but definite reduction of mortality with this form of treatment compared with medical therapy, which usually consists of the administration of thrombolytic medication.

VIDEO ON CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY

Peripheral angioplasty

Peripheral angioplasty refers to the use of mechanical widening in opening blood vessels other than the coronary arteries. It is often called percutaneous transluminal angioplasty or PTA. 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.

VIDEO ON PERIPHERAL ANGIOPLASTY

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(Narrowing of Renal artery) can lead to hypertension and loss of renal function.

VIDEO ON RENAL ANGIOPLASTY

Carotid angioplasty

Generally, carotid artery stenosis is treated with angioplasty and stenting for high risk patients in many hospitals. It has changed since the FDA has approved the first carotid stent system (Cordis) in July 2004 and the second (Guidant) in August 2004. The system comprises a stent along with an embolic capture device designed to reduce or trap emboli 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. SAPPHIRE, a large trial comparing carotid endarterectomy and carotid stenting with the Cordis stent found stenting non-inferior to carotid endarterectomy.

VIDEOS ON CAROTID ANGIOPLASTY

Brigham and Women's Hospital Cardiovascular Center hosted a live Webcast for viewers to watch and learn more about endovascular stenting for the treatment of atherosclerotic carotid stenosis, a blockage of the main artery to the neck that is a common cause of stroke in America.This procedure represents a true collaborative effort - bringing together the expertise of the BWH cardiac catheterization laboratory and its vascular surgery department - a combination that benefits patient outcomes.

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