1. Analysts said one major drawback with using balloon angioplasty alone is that the plaque recurs, a problem known as restenosis. 2. Because the scar tissue is harder than plaque, balloon angioplasty is often useless in treating in-stent restenosis. 3. A second study provides encouraging news about the safety of a drug given to reduce the threat of heart attack in patients undergoing balloon angioplasty. 4. All patients got anti-clotting drugs, but half underwent immediate catheterization and balloon angioplasty if necessary. 5. But after two large studies showed it was dangerous, increasing complication rates and death rates when compared with balloon angioplasty, most doctors stopped using it. 6. But most doctors still rely on balloon angioplasty, a procedure in which clogged arteries are forced open by pressure from a saline-filled balloon. 7. But one study used the Rotablator in conjunction with balloon angioplasty, which obscured results for use of the device alone. 8. Caths will still be needed for balloon angioplasty, for example, in which tubing is run through the arteries to open up a narrowing heart vessel. 9. Cheney went to the hospital and had another balloon angioplasty to push the obstruction back. 10. During the previous six years he had suffered several episodes of chest pains, had undergone repeated balloon angioplasties and had stents inserted in several coronary arteries. |