Percutaneous coronary intervention

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a non-surgical procedure used to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary artery disease. The process involves combining coronary angioplasty with stenting, which is the insertion of a permanent wire-meshed tube that is either drug eluting (DES) or composed of bare metal (BMS). The stent delivery balloon from the angioplasty catheter is inflated with media to force contact between the struts of the stent and the vessel wall (stent apposition), thus widening the blood vessel diameter. After accessing the blood stream through the femoral or radial artery, the procedure uses coronary catheterization to visualise the blood vessels on X-ray imaging. After this, an interventional cardiologist can perform a coronary angioplasty, using a balloon catheter in which a deflated balloon is advanced into the obstructed artery and inflated to relieve the narrowing; certain devices such as stents can be deployed to keep the blood vessel open. Various other procedures can also be performed. Primary PCI is the urgent use of PCI in people with acute heart attack, especially where there is evidence of heart damage on the electrocardiogram. PCI is also used in people after other forms of myocardial infarction or unstable angina where there is a high risk of further events. Finally, PCI may be used in people with stable angina pectoris, particularly if the symptoms are difficult to control with medication. PCI is an alternative to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG, often referred to as "bypass surgery"), which bypasses stenotic arteries by grafting vessels from elsewhere in the body. Under certain circumstances such as extensive blockages, background of diabetes, CABG may be superior. Coronary angioplasty was first introduced in 1977 by Andreas Gruentzig in Switzerland. PCI is used primarily to open a blocked coronary artery and restore arterial blood flow to heart tissue, without requiring open-heart surgery.