|
Stenosis and Restenosis of Coronary Arteries What are stenosis and restenosis? Stenosis means constriction or narrowing. A coronary artery that's constricted or narrowed is called stenosed. Buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances over time may clog the artery. To learn more about stenosis of heart valves, see "Heart Valves" in this guide. One way to widen a coronary artery is by using percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, or balloon angioplasty). Some patients who undergo PCI have restenosis (renarrowing) of the widened segment within about six months of the procedure. Restenosed arteries may have to undergo another angioplasty. One way to help prevent restenosis is by using stents. A stent is a wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery after angioplasty. Restenosis is less common in stented arteries. Studies are under way using stents covered with drugs that show promise for improving the long-term success of this procedure. Stenosis can also occur after a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) operation. This type of heart surgery is done to reroute, or "bypass," blood around clogged arteries. This improves the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart. In this case, the stenosis may occur in the transplanted blood vessel segments and require angioplasty or atherectomy (read more about atherectomy) to reopen them. See the Related Items box above for links to the Cardiology Patient Page in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association:
Related AHA publications:
Related AHA scientific statements: See also: Angina Pectoris Treatments Angioplasty and Cardiac Revascularization Treatments and Statistics Angioplasty, Laser Atherectomy Atherosclerosis Bypass Surgery, Coronary Artery Cardiac Catheterization Congenital Cardiovascular Disease Congenital Cardiovascular Disease Treatments Heart, How It Works Heart Valves Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (previously called Angioplasty, Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary [PTCA], or Balloon Angioplasty) Stent Procedure Transmyocardial Revascularization (TMR) |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||
| | | ||
