Angioplasty and stent placement - heart - Overview

Definition of Angioplasty and stent placement - heart:

Angioplasty is a procedure to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. These blood vessels are called the coronary arteries.

A coronary artery stent is a small, metal mesh tube that expands inside a coronary artery. A stent is often placed during or immediately after angioplasty. It helps prevent the artery from closing up again. A drug-eluting stent has medicine embedded in it that helps prevent the artery from closing.

Description:

Before the angioplasty procedure begins, you will be given some pain medicine. You may also be given blood thinning medicines to prevent a blood clot from forming.

You will lie on a padded table. Your doctor will insert a flexible tube (catheter) through a surgical cut into an artery. Sometimes the catheter will be placed in your arm or wrist. You will be awake during the procedure.

The doctor will use live x-ray pictures to carefully guide the catheter up into your heart and arteries. Dye will be injected into your body to highlight blood flow through the arteries. This helps the doctor see any blockages in the blood vessels that lead to your heart.

A guide wire is moved into and across the blockage. A balloon catheter is pushed over the guide wire and into the blockage. The balloon on the end is blown up (inflated). This opens the blocked vessel and restores proper blood flow to the heart.

A wire mesh tube (stent) may then be placed in this blocked area. The stent is inserted along with the balloon catheter. It expands when the balloon is inflated. The stent is left there to help keep the artery open.

The stent may be coated with a drug (called a drug-eluting stent). This type of stent may lower the chance of the artery closing back up in the future. However, drug-eluting stents are slightly more likely to close in the short-term. Currently, they are only used for certain patients.

Indications:

Arteries can become narrowed or blocked by deposits called plaque. Plaque is made up of fat and cholesterol that builds up on the inside of the artery walls. This condition is called atherosclerosis.

Angioplasty may be used to treat:

• Blockage in a coronary artery during or after a heart attack
• Blockage of one or more coronary arteries that puts you at risk for a heart attack
• Persistent chest pain (angina) that medicines do not control

Not every blockage can be treated with angioplasty. Some patients who have several blockages or blockages in certain locations may need coronary bypass surgery.