Coronary angioplasty, medically called PTCA is a non-surgical procedure used to open, dilate (widen or expand) blocked or narrowed coronary (heart) arteries. As the result of this procedure, the blood vessel is dilated and blood can flow more easily through the formerly narrowed part of the coronary artery.

In addition to the use of simple balloon angioplasty, the availability of stainless steel stents, in a wire-mesh design, enhance the safety and long-term results of the procedure. A stent is a small stainless steel/cobalt chromium tube that is permanently placed inside an artery to keep it open. This procedure has markedly reduced the numbers of patients needing emergency CABG to below 1%, and particularly with the use of the new “medicated” stents (stents coated with medications that help prevent plaque formation), has reduced the rate of recurrence of the blockage in the coronary artery (“restenosis”) to well below 10%.