Percutaneous Coronary Interventions

This is a term for all of the procedures that we perform in the arteries that feed the heart with blood to treat narrowings, blockages or plaque with the use of catheter-based treatments. These interventions include Balloon Angioplasty, Cutting Balloons, Stents (including Drug Eluting Stents), Rotoblation and Brachy Therapy. With these procedures, a small wire is placed across the area of narrowing and a balloon is placed across the area of stenosis. At this point the balloon is inflated and squishes the plaque and stretches open the artery allowing a greater opening. Similar types of balloons are used to deploy a stent which is crimped on the outside of the balloon. When the balloon is inflated, the stent becomes imbedded in the wall of the artery and serves as a scaffold to help prop the artery open. Drug Eluting Stents are coated with a drug which gradually leaks out over the first few weeks. This drug acts locally to reduce the chance of scar formation in the area of the stent. Brachy Therapy is the use of radiation treatment to an area of the coronary artery which has developed scar tissue after a previous intervention. With this therapy the artery is first re-opened with another balloon or rotoblation and then brachy therapy given in the area of the scar tissue.

Related Links

Balloon Angioplasty
Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Angiography
Carotid and Peripheral Angiography
Electrical Cardiac Conversion
Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators
Intravascular Ultrasound
Pacemaker Implantation
Rotoblation
Stent Placement to include Drug Eluting Stents
Stress Myocardial Perfusion Imaging
Tilt Table Testing
Transesophageal Echocardiography