What are Angioplasty and Vascular Stenting?
Angioplasty is a way of opening a narrowed or closed blood vessel without having to do major surgery. Instead, a catheter with a tiny balloon at its tip is inserted into the vessel – usually one of the coronary arteries supplying the heart wall or a major artery bringing blood to an arm or leg. After advancing the catheter until its tip is at the site of blockage, the balloon is inflated and then deflated and removed. The narrowing or blockage most often is caused by arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, when fatty plaques form on the inner wall of the artery and become larger, gradually cutting down on free blood flow. Expanding the balloon stretches the arterial wall and disrupts the fatty plaques, helping to restore blood flow.

Between 70 percent and 90 percent of angioplasty procedures use a stent, a hollow thin-walled wire mesh tube, to keep the vessel open after widening it. Otherwise, because arteriosclerosis is an ongoing disease, more plaques might form and again limit blood flow. The stent is placed onto the balloon and pressed firmly against the artery wall when inflating it. The balloon then is deflated, leaving the stent in place to act as a scaffold.

What are some common uses of the procedure?
Arteries carry blood and oxygen throughout the body. When a major artery is narrowed or blocked, the tissue it supplies does not get enough oxygen. If this happens in a coronary artery, chest pain – or angina – is the usual result. If in the legs, you may have pain when walking or, in time, even when at rest. A blocked artery to one or both kidneys may cause high blood pressure. If angioplasty succeeds in opening up the artery, more oxygen will get to the tissues and relieve the symptoms. If you have any of these conditions, your physician may want to consult an interventional radiologist to advise you on the best form of treatment. Some blockages are best treated by surgery, and some by angioplasty. The most common uses of angioplasty/stenting are:

• To open a narrowed or blocked coronary artery in patients suffering severe angina, which causes chest pain upon physical effort because part of the heart wall is not getting enough blood. Angioplasty often is used as an alternative to coronary artery bypass surgery, a very major undertaking. It may be done in hope of preventing a heart attack, or afterwards with
  the goal of preventing another attack.
• To open up a blocked artery in the pelvis, leg or arm of patients with peripheral arterial disease, also caused by arteriosclerosis. The most common site of angioplasty in these patients is the iliac arteries of the pelvis. Insufficient blood can keep the leg muscles from working properly and make it very painful to walk. Those affected may in time become chair-bound, but angioplasty/stenting can restore their ability to walk. This is especially important for older patients.
• To control the blood pressure in patients with renal hypertension when disease has narrowed one or both arteries supplying blood to the kidneys.
• To keep blood vessel grafts open in patients with kidney failure who have regular hemodialysis to prevent waste products from building up in the blood. Most of these patients have a graft constructed between an artery and vein in the arm so that blood can easily be withdrawn and replaced during dialysis. On average, these grafts stay open
  for about one year. Angioplasty with stenting can prolong their life for as long as three to five years.
• To maintain vital blood flow to the brain by keeping open the carotid artery, the major route of blood and oxygen to the brain. Angioplasty is most helpful to patients who are not good candidates for surgery.