High cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes can cause a build-up of plaque in the coronary arteries which results in a narrowing or blockage of that artery. A feeling of pressure, tightness or pain in the chest, neck, arm or jaw and shortness of breath can signal that you have a problem. Dr. Ronald Fields, director of the cardiac catheterization lab at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, says before any procedure is done, a cardiac catheterization is performed. That gives doctors a picture of your heart which shows any blockages.
If there is a narrowing or blockage, doctors may use angioplasty to send a small balloon into the artery, open it up and then place a stent to keep that artery open and the blood flowing. He says the stents come in quarter millimeter sizes, offering a perfect fit for each patient. A millimeter is about the thickness of a debit card, so sizing is critical. He explains that the diameter of the artery isn't just determined by a person's physical size, it could be influenced by the twists and turn of the artery in the heart.
He adds that stents are now coated with a medication that reduces the amount of scar tissue that forms around them, which leads to better outcomes. According to Dr. Fields, in the past, scar tissue would cause a blockage to reform in 20-percent of the arteries during the first year following the angioplasty. Now with the drug coating, that number has been reduced to just 5-percent. He says that while angioplasty has become a common procedure with around a million performed nationwide each year, there are risks involved.