What is Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA)?
Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA), sometimes just called “angioplasty” is an invasive procedure that restores blood flow to a narrowed artery. In this procedure, your doctor will thread a catheter with a small balloon on the end to the affected artery. Once it’s in place, the balloon is inflated to compress the plaque narrowing the artery, which will restore blood flow.
Many people who undergo this procedure also have a small coil of mesh called a stent placed in the blocked artery to support the walls and prevent it from narrowing again.