The first angioplasty was performed in Zurich,Switzerland,by Dr Andreas Gruentzig in 1977. The fact that his patient is still up and about is testament to the procedures efficacy. Sedentary lifestyles,coupled with incorrect eating habits,have resulted in people experiencing heart related complications at an ever-younger age. Unclogging choked arteries,however,doesnt always ask for an open heart surgery. Thanks to medical advances in techniques as well as in hardware,like thinner,tougher catheters and stents,patients can now be up and about in a matter of few days. Since Dr Melvin Judkins first helped describe it in the 1960s ,angioplasty has remained the first line of defence in the cardiologists armoury,with the most effective success rate. The procedure,like all catheter-based therapies,utilizes the body's circulatory system as a "highway". This avoids open surgery by threading catheters into arteries and clears a blockage with a balloon,and places a stent to hold the artery open. This highway can be accessed from several points,the femoral artery at the groin,being the largest,is the most commonly used. The Angioplasters and Femorialists vouch for the simplicity of this technique. However,the search for a deeply situated artery in obese patients can be challenging and post-procedural compression could be difficult. Occasionally,the arteries are blocked at the aorta level. Radial angioplasty,devised by Dr Lucien Campeau in 1980,is now emerging as a very convenient and patient friendly approach to tackle this. Known as the trans-radial approach,the procedure utilises the radial artery in the wrist instead of the femoral. Since the radial artery is close to the skin surface,even in the obese this technique makes the initial puncture,as well as the post-procedural compression,simple,straightforward and safe. Unlike other options,the radial artery is not close to a major nerve,so the likelihood of nicking a nerve during the procedure is very low. The patient does not have to be in bed following the procedure (as is required in groin approach) & thus can literally 'walk-off' the cath-lab procedure table. In Pune,Dr Shirish Hiremath,a leading angioplasty expert,has been conducting radial angioplasties for the last three years. He has till date performed over 15000 procedures,with a terrific success rate. Post angioplasty,the patient can move around immediately and can even go back to work,says Dr Shirish Hiremath,who has,over the past three years,conducted over 1000 such procedures He describes it as lunch break angioplasty! Not everyone,however,is a good candidate for radial angioplasty,so its advisable to let your doctor make the decision. Dr Hiremath strongly believes that,In experienced hands,this procedure can be a boon to angioplasty patients.
