What is Angioplasty


What is angioplasty?

“What is angioplasty” is a very common question. Simply angioplasty is a procedure used to widen narrowed or partially blocked, or occluded, blood vessels.

Do you want to know what is angioplasty classification?

 There are various types of angioplasty. The specific names of these procedures are derived from the type of equipment used and the path of entry to the blood vessel. For example, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) means that the vessel is entered through the skin (percutaneous) and that the catheter is moved into the blood vessel of interest through the same vessel or one that communicates with it (trans-luminal).

In the case of an angioplasty involving the coronary arteries, the point of entry might be the femoral artery in the groin, with the catheter/guide-wire system passed through the aorta to the heart and the origin of the coronary arteries at the base of the aorta just outside the aortic valve.

What is angioplasty purpose?

An angioplasty is done to reopen a partially blocked blood vessel so that blood can flow through it again at a normal rate. In patients with an occlusive vascular disease such as atherosclerosis, the flow of blood to other organs or remote parts of the body is limited by the narrowing (stenosis) of the vessel’s lumen due to fatty deposits or patches known as plaque.

Once the vessel has been widened, an adequate blood flow is restored, but the vessel may narrow again over time (restenosis) at the same location and the procedure may need to be repeated.