Angioplasty
Angioplasty is a procedure used to widen vessels narrowed by stenosis or occlusions. There are various types of these procedures and their names are associated with the type of vessel entry and equipment used. For example, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) describes entry through the skin (percutaneous) and navigates to the area of the vessel of interest through the same vessel or one that communicates with it (transluminal). In the case of a procedure involving the coronary arteries, the point of entry could be the femoral artery in the groin and the catheter/guidewire system is 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.
Purpose
In individuals with an occlusive vascular disease such as atherosclerosis, blood flow is impaired to an organ (such as the heart) or to a distal body part (such as the lower leg) by the narrowing of the vessel's lumen due to fatty deposits or calcium accumulation. This narrowing may occur in any vessel but may occur anywhere. Once the vessel has been widened, adequate blood flow is returned. The vessel may narrow again over time at the same location and the procedure could be repeated.
Stent
Endovascular stent surgery is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that uses advanced technology and instrumentation to treat disorders of the circulatory system such as blockage or damage to blood vessels caused by the buildup of plaque (fatty deposits, calcium deposits, and scar tissue) in the arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). We may recommend the placement of an endovascular stent, a small wire-mesh tube that surgeons call a scaffold, in an affected artery. The procedure may be done in conjunction with cleaning or repairing the artery. The twofold procedure opens, enlarges, and supports artery walls for a long-lasting improvement in blood flow and a decrease in the risk of heart attack or stroke. In endovascular stent surgery (endo , within, and vascular, blood vessel), all of the work done by our office is within the blood vessels themselves. Nearly all of the medium-sized and large blood vessels in the body's vascular system can be accessed from within the vessels. This fact contributes to a rapid increase in the performance of endovascular stent surgery.
Purpose
The purpose of endovascular stent surgery is to improve or restore the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body, a process called coronary revascularization. Endovascular stent surgery is used most often to correct the narrowing in medium-sized and large arteries blocked by plaque. Stents have been used in coronary arteries, the carotid arteries in the neck, and renal (kidney) or biliary (gallbladder) arteries. They are rarely used for smaller arteries in the legs, for example, or other smaller vessels in the body.
Endovascular stenting is also the newest treatment for emergency vascular events, such as abdominal or thoracic (related to chest and lung area) aortic aneurysms. Aortic aneurysms are life-threatening bulges in the walls of the aorta, the largest artery in the body, usually the result of progressive atherosclerosis.
This procedure is available at our main Sarasota campus only.
Source Citation: "Angioplasty." Elaine R. Proseus, MBA/TM, BSRT, RT(R). The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 5 vols.
Source Citation: "Endovascular stent surgery." L. Lee Culvert. and Laura Jean Cataldo, RN, EdD. The Gale Encyclopedia of Surgery and Medical Tests. Ed. Brigham Narins. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 4 vols.