Heart attacks are frequently the result of a narrowing of the blood vessels that provide oxygen and nutrients to heart tissue and muscles. This narrowing is referred to as stenosis. Opening these stenotic vessels is commonly performed by small-diameter vascular catheters that deploy inflatable balloons.
The formal name for this procedure is Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty, or PTCA. Percutaneous refers to a needle puncture of the skin; in the case of PTCA procedures, this typically involves a puncture in the upper leg to access the femoral artery.
Transluminal means the procedure is performed by way of a natural body passage. In this case, it refers to a major artery with access to the heart, as implied by the ‘Coronary’ terminology.
Angioplasty refers to the balloon inflation used to open the stenotic artery. In the early days of this procedure (early 1980’s) only balloons were used to expand blood vessels, without supportive scaffolding left behind. However, a significant number of patients experienced relapse as the expanded arteries closed, a condition known as restenosis. As a result, device companies began offering small-diameter metal scaffolding, known as stents. These are expanded by balloons and remain in the arterial wall.
Today, there is increasing demand for similar technology to treat arterial stenosis in legs, arms and other parts of the body. This procedure is known as Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA). As suggested by the name, it is similar to PTCA but utilized for treatment of non-coronary disease. PTA procedures are typically used for stenosis of peripheral arteries, known as Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD).