coronary angioplasty


coronary angioplasty

BALLOON ANGIOPLASTY performed in a CORONARY ARTERY. This is normally performed as an elective procedure after angiography demonstrates a local obstruction in the coronary blood flow. It has recently been shown, however, that primary coronary angioplasty is a more effective and more often life-saving procedure for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) than attempts to break down the obstructing blood clot by enzymatic treatment (fibrinolysis). A critical factor is the length of time elapsing between the blockage and the angioplasty. This is necessarily longer than the time to fibrinolysis. See also BALLOON CATHETER.