Angioplasty, Stents, Coronary Artery Disease -- Angioplasty.Org

Welcome to the Web's most extensive independent source of information on angioplasty for patients and professionals -- now in our 13th year. Our mission: provide substantive support; present the latest news on treatments and technologies; be a forum for discussion of controversial issues in medical innovation.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. SANJAY PATEL: Using the transradial approach has made a major difference in Dr. Patel's Houston-based practice. 2 years ago no one in his hospitals was doing radial procedures; today Dr. Patel runs monthly training courses.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. FAUSTO FERES: A new trial in Brazil is testing whether 3 months of dual antiplatelet therapy after therapy with the Endeavor DES may be sufficient. Dr. Feres discusses the OPTIMIZE Trial of 3,200 patiients.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. ERIC J. TOPOL: The Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, discusses his work in genomic studies of platelet responsiveness and its implications in determining the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. SUNIL V. RAO: The Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at the Durham (NC) VA Medical Center, author of a landmark study about transradial, discusses the current status of this approach in the U.S. and its growth.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. DAVID E. KANDZARI: The Director of Interventional Cardiology Research at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California shares his thoughts on the current status of drug-eluting stents and the outstanding safety and clinical issues.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. GUILIO GUAGLIUMI: A leading figure in the use of intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) discusses the fast-moving advances in this field of imaging and how it is impacting the development of new drug-eluting stents.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. JAMES K. MIN: The latest in our "Advances in Imaging" series is an discussion the Director of Cardiac CT at NewYork-Presbeterian Hospital, ranging from how CT fits in with nuclear stress testing, radiation dosage and more.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. NICO PIJLS: Co-principal investigator for the FAME study discusses how the use of FFR (Fractional Flow Reserve) can make PCI safer and less expensive and yield better outcomes for the patient.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. SZILARD VOROS: Virtual Histology IVUS allows the cardiologist to see not only the plaque inside the artery, but what the composition of that plaque is. We discuss this new technologywith one of the leading researchers in the field.

ACC COURAGE trial study results:
ANSWERS TO TOP 10 QUESTIONS ABOUT DRUG THERAPY VS. ANGIOPLASTY

Patient Advisory: Stent Thrombosis
What patients need to know about drug-elutings stent and late stent thrombosis

What Patients Are Saying In The Forum:

"I just want you to know that you probably saved [my husband's] life by telling your story, and I want to thank you for it." -- Marie, Canada

"My dad had a major heart attack. My mother took him to the ER fast. 8 months later, he is doing great! The technology today is awesome -- thanks to this I still have my dad in my life." -- C., Illinois

"Thanks for current, accurate information regarding DES reactions." - Gywnne, RN, Missouri

" Less than panicked because of your...articles that dispel the mongering. Thank you and continue to be the voice of reason on this issue." - JFM, Virginia

EMERGENCY ANGIOPLASTY: The "gold standard" for treating and stopping heart attacks.

see video clip:
" The 1st Angioplasty"

ANGIOPLASTY AT 30: 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of coronary angioplasty. In 1977 in Zurich, Switzerland, a young physician named Andreas Gruentzig inserted a catheter into a patient's coronary artery and inflated a tiny balloon, successfully opening a blockage and restoring blood flow to a human heart. Today over two million coronary angioplasties (PTCAs) are performed worldwide each year, making it more common than bypass surgery

In the past decade, stents, atherectomy devices, radiation catheters and other innovations have ushered in a new era in interventional medicine. (Click here to view videos, interviews, photos and other primary source materials in our History Center.)

Winner of the "Freddie": International Health and Medical Media Award

Selected as an "Internet iGuide" by Encyclopedia Brittanica