Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

The purpose of this article is to review PTCA, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, which can be considered to be a truly revolutionary and fairly simple invasive form of intervention to atherosclerotic obstruction. The 'epidemic' of IHD, ischaemic heart disease, in the Republic of South Africa calls for the employment of this technique, which has already been carried out in a few teaching hospitals in this country. Very recently, modified balloon dilatation catheters have been used percutaneously in the non-operative transluminal correction of congenital coarctation of the aorta in infants and children, congenital pulmonary value stenosis, and hypoplasia and stenosis of the pulmonary arteries. It has also been employed for PTCA and for the simultaneous occlusion of coronary-bronchial artery anastomosis using a detachable balloon. The isotopes thallium 201 and technetium 99 were also used in scintiscanning