angioplasty

[ an-jee-uh-plas-tee ]

noun

, Surgery.

, plural an·gi·o·plas·ties.

1. the repair of a blood vessel, as by inserting a balloon-tipped catheter to unclog it or by replacing part of the vessel with either a piece of the patient's own tissue or a prosthetic device:

   coronary angioplasty to widen an artery blocked by plaque.

angioplasty

/ ˈændʒɪəˌplæstɪ /

noun

1. a surgical technique for restoring normal blood flow through an artery narrowed or blocked by atherosclerosis, either by inserting a balloon into the narrowed section and inflating it or by using a laser beam

angioplasty

/ ăn′jē-ə-plăs′tē /

1. The surgical repair of a blood vessel, such as an obstructed coronary artery, usually by inflating a small balloon at the end of a catheter.

angioplasty

1. A surgical technique in which a catheter containing a small balloon is inserted into arteries around the heart . The balloon is inflated to compress deposits of fatty substances blocking the artery, thereby restoring the flow of blood .

Notes

Also called balloon therapy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of angioplasty¹

angio- + -plasty

Example Sentences

The soundwave emitters are placed inside angioplasty catheters to reach the calcified areas of the artery.

From Seattle Times

And drugmakers and surgeons haven’t developed as many new blockbuster treatments recently — there has been no new Prozac or angioplasty to drive up spending.

From Seattle Times

Over the past year, he had to raise thousands of dollars through an aid organization to pay full-price for an angioplasty to remove plaque from his arteries.

From Los Angeles Times

Typical treatments may include balloon angioplasty, the placement of stents or the removal of plaque with a bladed catheter, also known as an atherectomy.

From Salon

Since then he’s been kept alive by internal devices, stents, angioplasty surgery, a sextuple bypass surgery and multiple ablation procedures.

From Seattle Times