Angioplasty Quality Indicators
Availability of advanced techniques
Restenosis (renarrowing or reblockage) of an opened coronary artery after angioplasty with a bare-metal stent (a tiny, expandable metal coil) occurs in some patients. The use of drug-eluting stents (stents containing medication that helps prevent restenosis by gradually releasing medication over time) has been shown to decrease restenosis after angioplasty and stent placement, as well as to decrease the need for additional procedures to reopen an artery, according to the American Heart Association.
Individuals who receive drug-eluting stents are advised by the American Heart Association to have regular medical checkups and to continue blood-thinning medications as prescribed.
Do interventional cardiologists at UVA use advanced techniques such as drug-eluting stents during angioplasty procedures?
Yes. UVA's interventional services provide many advanced techniques, such as drug-eluting stents, to allow percutaneous treatment of diseased coronary arteries that may otherwise have to be treated with surgery. This also includes techniques to treat chronic total coronary occlusion, coronary artery aneurysms, saphenous vein graft disease, bifurcation (or branch vessel) disease and the performance of high-risk procedures such as treatment of left main disease. Many of these approaches are not offered at other institutions that offer angioplasty.
