Percutaneous Coronary Interventions
Interventional cardiology refers to non-surgical procedures or treatments used to open narrowed coronary arteries caused by plaque buildup to improve blood flow to the heart. An interventional procedure can be performed during the diagnostic cardiac catherization, or it may be scheduled separately after the cardiac catherization has confirmed the presence of coronary artery disease.
An interventional procedure starts out the same way as the diagnostic angiography procedure described earlier. Once the catheter is in place, one of several interventional procedures can be performed to open the coronary artery.
During angioplasty, the interventional cardiologist advances the catheter to the affected (narrowed) coronary artery. The catheter has a tiny balloon on the end of it. The catheter is carefully threaded through the narrowing in the artery and the balloon is then inflated. As the balloon inflates, the plaque is compressed against the wall of the coronary artery, widening the opening of the artery and establishing better blood flow. The balloon may be inflated several times to improve blood flow.
A stent is a small mesh tube used to treat narrowed or weakened arteries. Some stents are made of metal mesh, and some stents are coated with medicines that help prevent the artery from becoming blocked again. These stents are called drug-eluting stents.
You may have a stent placed in an artery as part of your angioplasty procedure. While angioplasty restores blood flow through narrowed or blocked coronary arteries, stents help prevent the arteries from becoming narrowed or blocked again in the months or years after angioplasty. A balloon catheter is used to insert the stent into the narrowed artery. Once in place, the balloon is inflated and the stent expands to the size of the artery and holds it open. Over time, cells in your artery grow to cover the mesh of the stent to create an inner layer that looks like the inside of a normal blood vessel.
After a stent procedure, your cardiologist will likely recommend that you take certain medications for several months or even a year or more after your procedure to prevent the risk of clotting in the stent.
Rotablation atherectomy treatment is sometimes used to grind away hardened plaque within a coronary artery.
At St. Paul Heart Clinic, coronary interventions are performed by the cardiologists from the Interventional Subsection including:
- Charles Alexander, M.D.
- Kenneth Baran, M.D.
- Margaret Beahrs, M.D.
- Thomas Biggs, M.D.
- Patrick Koller, M.D.
- Brian Mahoney, M.D.
- Sara Murray, M.D.
- Thomas Raya, M.D.
- Peter Rusterholz, M.D.
- Uma Valeti, M.D.
- Thomas Wiberg, M.D.
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