Angioplasty, also called balloon angioplasty, and vascular stenting are minimally invasive procedures performed to improve blood flow in the body's arteries.

Franklin Moser, MD, Chief of Interventional Neuroradiology, heads our team of imaging physicians, nurses and technologists who specialize in this procedures.

To perform an angioplasty, an interventional radiologist makes a small nick in the skin and inserts a balloon-tipped catheter, a thin, plastic tube. The catheter is threaded through the artery until it reaches the site of the blockage, where the balloon is inflated, then deflated and removed. Expanding the balloon helps to restore blood flow by stretching the arterial wall, which increases the inner diameter of the artery.

Many angioplasty procedures also include the placement of a stent, a small, flexible tube made of metal to support the damaged artery walls. Stents are typically placed over a balloon-tipped catheter, which is expanded, pushing the stent in place against the artery wall. When the balloon is deflated and removed, the stent remains permanently in place, acting like a scaffold for the artery.

Angioplasty and vascular stenting are commonly used to treat conditions that result when arteries throughout the body become narrowed or blocked, including:

• Peripheral vascular disease (PVD)/peripheral artery disease (PAD) (narrowing of the arteries in the legs or arms).
• Renal vascular hypertension (high blood pressure caused by narrowing of the kidney arteries).
• Hemodialysis access maintenance.
• Carotid artery disease (narrowing of the neck arteries supplying blood to the brain).
• Coronary artery disease (narrowing of the heart arteries).