Angioplasty at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur

Angioplasty is a minimally invasive procedure to widen the blocked arteries and veins of the body and it is also known as balloon angioplasty. It is mainly a treatment option for atherosclerosis, with this disease, fat plaques are deposited into your blood vessels and it can be deposited in both arteries and veins. With this method, a catheter and a balloon are inserted into your body through a blood vessel. Once the catheter enters your body, it is moved to the site of blockage; there the balloon is inflated to open up the clogged blood vessel. Sometimes, the balloon is inflated and deflated again and again to increase the diameter of the blood vessel.

Blocked blood vessels can pose a number of threats to your health and for example, coronary artery blockage can lead to severe chest pain, shortness of breath and ultimately to a heart attack. Coronary artery stenosis is the most common type of artery stenosis. Balloon angioplasty puts pressure on the vessel wall to open it up to increase the blood flow.

Also, see Coronary Angioplasty for the surgical procedure performed to widen blocked or narrowed coronary arteries.

Not everyone can be treated using angioplasty and some people have to go through surgery to get their narrowed vessels treated. Visit your health care provider to find out what can work for you, discuss your health history, expectations, and pros and cons of the procedure before opting for it, and patients with multiple blockages usually need surgery.