2007-03-17 00:25:53 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
Angioplasty is a procedure in which a Doctor goes into your femoral artery to get to a blockage around your heart. They then use a balloon type device to open up the artery and allow blood flow to return. It's usually a procedure to avoid bypass surgery, but for the most part just delays the inevitable.
2007-03-17 01:50:18 · answer #1 · answered by D28Guy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Angio (having to do with the heart) plasty (reconstruction or change in structure).
Angioplasty is also known as a heart catheterization and/or PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention ) is a procedure where a small catheter is introduced into the body through a peripheral artery (often the right femoral but sometimes the right radial) and advanced around the aortic arch to the coronary arteries that surround the heart muscle and supply it with blood.
Initially dye is pumped through the vessels and real time xray is used to observe the flow or lack of flow through the vessels. If a vessel is 70% blocked then depending on the location, number of other blocks, and likelihood that this blockage is a causing symptoms, then an angioplasty may be used to fix the problem.
An angioplasty is done with an inflatable balloon run over the same catheter mention above. (There also is such a thing as a cutting balloon that bores through the plaque as well) More commonly, the ballon is advanced to the point of the lesion and inflated - essentially crushing the contents open. Often a stent (a tiny, mesh, wire straw-type device) is advanced to the place of the procedure and it is pressed into the arterial wall to keep the artery open. Most stents these days have a drug coating on them to prevent clotting from happen at the point of the procdure. It is also necessary to take a medication called Plavix afterward.
Angioplasty is a way to fix a clogged artery that is relatively reduced invasiveness (compared to an open heart bypass, for instance) and with very good results. The patient usually stays overnight but is ready to go home the next morning.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
2007-03-17 09:01:09 · answer #2 · answered by c_schumacker 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Angioplasty is what the doctor does in the cath lab to open up a blockage in the wall of the arteries of the heart. After the the wall of the heart has been expanded (with the balloon mounted on the tip of a catheter), a stent is usually deployed in that vessel wall to hold the artery wall open (like scaffolding). The stent companies are now designing stents that will dissolve. That way in the future you won't have metal in your heart's artery walls. This is great because if you need open heart surgery in the future, the metallic struts won't get in the way. I hope this helped.
2007-03-18 18:47:23 · answer #3 · answered by harri_pitts 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To define the word, angio=vessel plasty=reshape.
Usually this means that a doctor takes a long small tube called a catheter with a balloon on the end of it. These balloons are very specific in size and length. After determining which size and length will compliment the normal part of the vessel the doctor will inflate the balloon to a pressure that can be as high as 20 times atmospheric pressure. This will push plaque buildup and clot into the vessel wall creating a larger lumen or opening. Most of the time a stent will be needed to help prop open the lumen.
2007-03-20 22:15:24 · answer #4 · answered by gamma_maker 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
C Shuma hit it right on the nail head! I have had both procedures, radial artery in the arm and femoral artery in the groin. I have the drug eluting stent and do take Plavix with an aspirin regiment! However, the stents have become very controversial due to some deaths. There are presently no studies regarding the stents one year post operative! The FDA has stepped in and it's anyone's guess at this time as to where this goes! The lawyers are waiting like Turkey Vulchers!
2007-03-17 14:55:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
angio(greek)-blood vessels(
plasticos(greek)-mould,repair or redo
angioplasty basically means repair of blood vessels
repair is widening of blood vessels i.e arteries which have been narrowed or blocked due to atherosclerosis
most commonly done for coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart , the obstruction of which causes myocardial infarction or heart attack
it is called coronary angioplasty
there are also renal angioplasty,carotid angioplasty for other major vessels
2007-03-17 09:18:04 · answer #6 · answered by dr veena 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋