Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Arteriography

Percutaneous transluminal coronary arteriography is the most reliable means of investigating and quantifying the severity of coronary artery occlusive disease. Percutaneous transluminal coronary arteriography is a diagnostic procedure using fluoroscopic images of catheter delivery of contrast dye within the coronary artery system. The dye travels through the patent vessels and shows up on fluoroscopy as a depiction of the topography within the blood vessels themselves. A common cause of blood vessel distortion or occlusion is atherosclerotic disease. Atherosclerosis affects approximately 1 in every 13 Americans aged 18 years and older and approximately 85% of deaths in people 65 years of age and older are secondary to coronary artery disease (CAD). The diagnosis of CAD in millions of people all over the world has been accomplished through percutaneous transluminal coronary arteriography. This procedure was first performed in the 1920s, and it ultimately led to the development of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty or coronary angioplasty which is a transcatheter treatment procedure that restores blood flow in the coronary arteries identified by arteriography. It is also known by other names such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Balloon angioplasty has become the method of choice to treat patients with acute myocardial infarction or occluded leg arteries.