MINI-SYMPOSIUM

Plaque sealing by coronary angioplasty

B Meier

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor Bernhard Meier
Swiss Cardiovascular Center Bern, University Hospital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland; bernhard.meier@insel.ch

Keywords: plaque sealing; coronary angioplasty

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The concept of plaque sealing by coronary balloon angioplasty has been around for some time.¹ It is based on two principles. First, a coronary stenosis subjected to balloon angioplasty will not progress to a total occlusion later on unless it occludes abruptly during or immediately after the intervention. Even if a restenosis occurs, the smooth inner lining of the intimal proliferation virtually precludes endothelial rupture and thrombosis. Second, preventing plaque rupture and occlusive thrombosis impacts on the occurrence of myocardial infarction and death. Normalising the blood flow in a significantly stenosed coronary segment only addresses symptoms such as angina pectoris and perhaps exertional dyspnoea. The uncontested benefit of balloon angioplasty, namely alleviation of angina² deals with a lifestyle problem (physical performance, elimination of medications) but not with the prognosis. Hence, restricting indications for coronary angioplasty to flow limiting lesions means barking up the wrong tree by ignoring what really counts—prevention . . . [Full text of this article]

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