When to Consider Angioplasty (Heart Health)

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When to Consider Angioplasty (Heart Health)

If you have coronary artery disease (CAD), your doctor may consider angioplasty if lifestyle changes and medications do not improve your symptoms. This is an alternative to coronary bypass surgery, which is a major operation. A thin balloon or other device is threaded through a blood vessel in the groin or arm into a heart (coronary) artery. The balloon is then inflated to compress the blockage and stretch the artery open.

Your doctor will recommend angioplasty or bypass surgery based on:

The number of blocked arteries you have
The severity of the blockages
The location of the blockages
Whether you have other medical conditions
Your surgical risk for bypass
Your preference

Angioplasty is often selected if:

The blockage is small
The blockage can be reached by angioplasty
The artery affected is not the main artery that supplies blood to the left side of the heart
You do not have heart failure

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