Balloon Angioplasty (PCI/Stent)

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), or balloon angioplasty, is an innovative, non-surgical method of opening obstructions in coronary arteries. In many cases, it offers an effective alternative to open-heart bypass graft surgery. The angioplasty process is a more elaborate form of cardiac catheterization. The patient is given a local anesthetic, and a guiding catheter is inserted and positioned in the diseased artery or arteries.

                                                           Totally occluded right coronary artery before PCI

A second, thinner, ballon catheter with an x-ray visible guide-wire tip is advanced through the guiding catheter into the obstructed section of the artery. When in place, the small balloon is inflated with dye to compress the atherosclerotic buildup on the arterial walls. After deflation and removal of the balloon, additional angiograms are taken to determine whether the blockage has been dilated.

A balloon angioplasty being performed on the right coronary to dilate the blockage

Presently, over ninety-five percent of all angioplasties performed at the Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute are successful, and result in an improvement in blood circulation to the heart muscle. Over eight thousand angioplasties have been performed at the Institute to date.

Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah and his associates are also highly skilled at performing stents, a procedure similar to angioplasty (PCI), whereby obstructions of the arteries of the heart are dilated by inserting a balloon through a blood vessel in the groin or the arm.

As a result of the PCI, the blockage has been dilated and the artery cleared, resulting in improved blood circulation to the heart muscle.