Coronary stenting as an adjunct to balloon angioplasty

Abstract

Andreas Gruentzig initiated the era of interventional cardiology in 19n with the introduction of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) (1). The acceptance of coronary angioplasty is obvious by the widespread use of the procedure (>300,000 cases in the United States in 1990), the growing list of patient indications and the existence of an extensive infrastructure to support the procedure Qncluding the expansion of catheterization laboratories, fellowship traine