MEDICAL PROGRESS - PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY

The nonsurgical treatment of arteries narrowed by atherosclerosis was introduced in 1964, when Dotter and Judkins performed transluminal angioplasty of femoral arterial stenoses1. In the 1970s, Gruntzig modified the dilation catheter to allow its use in coronary arteries,2 and in September 1977 he performed the first percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in a patient. PTCA has since been used in many patients with stable angina, unstable angina, or acute myocardial infarction. Its use was initially limited to the treatment of discrete stenoses in proximal segments of a coronary artery, but improvements in equipment and technique have led to its. © 1994, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.