Angioplasty
Introduction
Angioplasty is one potential treatment for vascular disease and blocked or narrow arteries. An angioplasty is using a balloon to expand and dilate a narrowed or blocked vessel. Not all vessel bloackages are best treated with an angioplasty. The JVI is committed to having the latest in technology that can allow endovascular techniques such as angioplsty to be available to patients.
Frequently Asked Questions: FAQ's
1. How does an angioplasty work?
Answer: Angioplasty uses a high pressure ballon of a diameter close to that of the intended target vessel. By expandning the balloon, the atherosclerotic plaque is disrupted and remodeled into a larger lumen. This is done via a catheter and guidewire placed into your vessels. Typical patients can go home the same day if an angioplasty is all that is required.
2. Where does an angioplasty work the best?
Answer: Angioplasty works best in large vessels with short, even narrowings. As a vessel becomes smaller (as in the smaller vessels in the leg), completely blocked (or occluded), unevenly narrowed, or the lesions become longer, an angioplasty has less benefit.
3. How can an angioplasty not work?
Answer: An angioplasty can fail immediately by causing a vessel to 'dissect', or split on the inside. It also can not break the hardened artery in a way that does not recoil. Over time, an angioplasty can narrow down from scarring on the inside, or from progression of your hardening of the arteries from continued Atherosclerosis. This is especially so if you are a smoker of tobacco and continue to smoke!
4. What can be done if an angioplasty is not successful?
Answer: Some vessel angioplasties can be salvaged for a good outcome with the
placement of a Stent. A Stent is a mettalic mesh frame in the shape of a tube
that is of similar size to your actual vessel. This can correct for the dissections
that occur. Stents also decrease elastic recoil of the vessel. Stents as a primary
mode for angioplasty have not been shown to increase long term patency however.
The stented vessel is still subject to internal scarring and progressive hardening
of your arteries. Many times a patient who cannot get a satisfactory result
from an angioplasty can be treated by a bypass
operation
5. How come my heart vessels can get an angioplasty, but my leg vessel cannot?
Answer: A patient who has a coronary angioplsty is receiving treatment for a different problem - Coronary Artery Disease. Every vessel in your body is a little different. It may be bigger, smaller, in an area with a lot of movement, or more involved with hardeining of the arteries. At the JVI, our caridologists can and do perform coronary vessel angioplasties for many patients. There are also many times where a patient is better served with a heart bypass rather than balloon angioplasty. This can also be the case in treating your legs or carotid arteries.
We at the PVSS hope this information as answered what may be some of your questions about peripheral vascular disease.
Sincerely,
Peter S. Dovgan, M.D. for the PVSS