Angioplasty
minimally invasive, endovascular procedure to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atherosclerosis.
Angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atherosclerosis.
A deflated balloon attached to a catheter (a balloon catheter) is passed over a guide-wire into the narrowed vessel and then inflated to a fixed size. The balloon forces expansion of the blood vessel and the surrounding muscular wall, allowing an improved blood flow. A stent may be inserted at the time of ballooning to ensure the vessel remains open, and the balloon is then deflated and withdrawn. Angioplasty has come to include all manner of vascular interventions that are typically performed percutaneously.
Uses and indications
Coronary angioplasty
A coronary angioplasty is a therapeutic procedure used to treat stenotic (narrowed) coronary arteries of the heart in coronary heart disease. These stenotic segments arise due to the buildup of cholesterol-laden plaques that form in a condition known as atherosclerosis. A percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary angioplasty with stenting, is a non-surgical procedure used to improve blood flow to the heart.
Coronary angioplasty is indicated for coronary artery diseases such as unstable angina, NSTEMI, STEMI, and spontaneous coronary artery perforation. Percutaneous coronary intervention for stable coronary disease has been shown to relieve symptoms such as angina, or chest pain, thereby improving functional limitations and quality of life.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Angioplasty” as minimally invasive, endovascular procedure to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atherosclerosis. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as minimally invasive, endovascular procedure to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atherosclerosis. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q539795. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Angioplasty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.