Percutaneous coronary intervention

Percutaneous coronary intervention encompasses a variety of procedures used to treat patients with diseased coronary arteries. A catheter is advanced into the diseased artery, and a balloon is inflated within the stenotic portion of the artery, often accompanied by placement of a stent (a wire mesh tube) to act as a permanent scaffold. The procedure is commonly known as ‘coronary angioplasty’. (ICRP Publication 120, 2012)

ICRP Glossary entry - June 2019