Understanding Angioplasty
Angioplasty is a procedure that uses a catheter and small balloon threaded through a blood vessel in the groin or arm and then guided into a heart (coronary) artery to open blocked or narrowed coronary arteries. It is minimally invasive and can often be an alternative to coronary artery bypass surgery.
Angioplasty is used in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) to relieve chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart and to minimize damage to the heart muscle during a heart attack (which occurs when blood flow is cut off to an area of the heart).
Emory Heart & Vascular Center cardiologists have been in the forefront of the development and application of angioplasty. Famed angioplasty pioneer Andreas Gruentzig, MD, joined the Emory faculty in 1980 and worked with Emory cardiologists to refine and research the technique that was to revolutionize the treatment of heart disease. Following Dr. Gruentzig's death in 1985, the Andreas Gruentzig Cardiovascular Center of Emory University Hospital was created to continue interventional cardiology research and training.
Today, Emory interventional cardiologists have performed more than 35,000 coronary angioplasty procedures.
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