Threading a catheter with a balloon into a coronary artery and expanding it to repair arteries describes which procedure?

• A. Angioplasty
• B. Stent placement
• C. Atherectomy
• D. Coronary bypass

Answer: (A)

Balloon angioplasty is a percutaneous procedure to open a narrowed coronary artery. A catheter with an inflatable balloon is guided to the site of the blockage; when the balloon is inflated, it presses the plaque against the artery wall and widens the lumen to restore blood flow. The scenario described matches this exactly—the ballooned catheter expands within the artery to repair the narrowing. After angioplasty, a stent may be placed to help keep the artery open, but the core idea is the balloon inflation to widen the vessel. In contrast, stent placement centers on deploying a scaffold, atherectomy involves removing plaque, and coronary bypass uses surgical grafts to reroute blood flow.