Cardiology In
Critical Care
PTCA
Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty
What is PTCA?
"Percutaneous"
through the skin
"Transluminal" within the lumen or
artery
"Coronary" the artery which supplies the
heart muscle
"Angioplasty" remodeling the artery.
PTCA (Angioplasty) is
a mechanical fix to a biological problem. It can correct
the immediate danger of blocked arteries.
The advantage of angioplasty over open heart surgery is
that it is much less invasive and more repeatable if the
disease
advance necessating the correction of more blockages.
History of PTCA
Andreas Gruentzig a physician in Zurich
Switzerland inserted a catheter into a patient's coronary
artery and inflated a small balloon
opening a blocking and restoring blood flow to a human
heart. Over a millian angioplasties (PTCAs) are performed
annually.
All comments and questions
about content at this site should be sent to
Nurse Bob
There have been
Visitors to this page.
Return to Nurse
Bob'sŪ Page
This page last updated 02/04/09