how many stents can you have in angioplasty?

Question

Is it only one in the main artery

Answer 1

The studies show that you will have a better long term outcome if you have a bypass rather than angioplasty with greater than three critical stenoses. So if they pump the dye in and see multiple significant stenoses - unless it is an emergent case, they back out and refer the patient to cardiothoracic surgery.

Of course there are a number of exceptions to this rule - I have seen as many as six or eight stents deployed in one setting.

Answer 2

The quick and easy answer: as many as it takes.

Whether all necessary stents can be deployed in the same procedure is perhaps more the question.
If the patient has physiological (vital sign) changes which indicate instability/"decompensation", or issues such as kidney function interferes with contrast media amounts, the procedure may be terminated early and/or "staged" to allow a certain amount of work to be conducted at separate intervals.

For clarification-
1) The main artery is usually thought of as the Left Main, the "trunk" of the left coronary artery "tree". The usual practice in the U.S. is NOT to stent the Left Main, as a general rule. Disease in this portion (usually greater than a 50% narrowing) is typically treated by Coronary Artery Bypass Graft [CABG] surgery, if treatment is deemed necessary.
As to main branches, major branches and minor branches (which I have phrased in a descending order of luminal {channel} diameter), a stent can usually be placed if-
*the vessel is 2.5 mm or larger;
*there exists sufficient healthy tissue both before and after the diseased segment to fit within the shortest stent devised - 8 mm in length, without creating a worse situation by covering a "significant" side branch; and
*the lesion can be accessed.
A guidewire must first be steered across the the specific lesion site in order for a stent to be delivered there. Stent design characteristics limit the ability of the mesh tube to flex when it must encounter sharp angles or bends; longer stents having more trouble than short.

Sometimes, a stent just can't be delivered to the site to be deployed. If this is the case, angioplasty alone can be conducted.

2) Angioplasty, in this case, referred to as Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty [PTCA] is a separate procedure from stent placement but may be viewed as a lesser-inclusive part of 'stenting' since a stent is mounted on a balloon, inflated to expand the stent into position.

Angioplasty, roughly defined, is the repair of a blood vessel (but in this situation, the vessel is a coronary artery and the repair mechanism is {typically} a balloon).
Angioplasty can occur prior to stent placement, if necessary, to increase the "crossing profile" (accessibility) of the lesion for the stent to cross. In many cases, the lesion can be "direct stented", without angioplasty first.

Answer 3

I had four by-passes, ten angioplasty's, and ten stents installed over a period of six years. I'm in great shape and everything is picture perfect.

Answer 4

I,m not sure what the limit is , But I was given three, and had 40% blockage in another vein . Heart disease is a critical matter , and you need to continue to see your cardiologist for check ups . although i some times miss my appointments my self . I do try to keep them. Heart disease is serious business