angioplasty

American  

[an-jee-uh-plas-tee] / ˈæn dʒi əˌplæs ti /

noun

Surgery.

angioplasties plural

1. the repair of a blood vessel, as by inserting a balloon-tipped catheter to unclog it or by replacing part of the vessel with either a piece of the patient's own tissue or a prosthetic device.

   coronary angioplasty to widen an artery blocked by plaque.

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angioplasty British  

/ ˈændʒɪəˌplæstɪ /

noun

1. a surgical technique for restoring normal blood flow through an artery narrowed or blocked by atherosclerosis, either by inserting a balloon into the narrowed section and inflating it or by using a laser beam

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angioplasty Scientific  

/ ăn′jē-ə-plăs′tē /

1. The surgical repair of a blood vessel, such as an obstructed coronary artery, usually by inflating a small balloon at the end of a catheter.

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angioplasty Cultural  

1. A surgical technique in which a catheter containing a small balloon is inserted into arteries around the heart. The balloon is inflated to compress deposits of fatty substances blocking the artery, thereby restoring the flow of blood.

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Discover More

Also called balloon therapy.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• angioplasties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of angioplasty

angio- + -plasty

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

angioplasty angioplasties

There’s no way my dad and my mom paid enough into Medicare to cover my dad’s six months in long-term critical care, multiple angioplasty procedures and stroke.

From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026

That challenge pushed the researchers toward a different idea: a biomaterial that could be infused into a blood vessel in the heart during procedures such as angioplasty or stenting, or delivered through an IV.

From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026

Dhankhar underwent angioplasty in Delhi in March but quickly resumed his duties and remained active in parliament.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2025

Over the past year, he had to raise thousands of dollars through an aid organization to pay full-price for an angioplasty to remove plaque from his arteries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2023

Within minutes, Miele was on a table in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, awaiting angioplasty to unclog his artery—a procedure that many cardiologists say has become the gold standard in heart attack treatment.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

He would undergo multiple surgeries, including a quadruple bypass, two angioplasties, installation of a heart pump and — in 2012 — a transplant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025

After spending years as UW Health’s chief of cardiology, replacing heart valves and doing angioplasties to clear blocked arteries, Wolff has undergone a major procedure himself: a heart-kidney transplant.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 6, 2021

Of course, as Baier notes, the treatment choices were limited at the time—Snyder could not have performed the dramatic artery-opening bypasses, angioplasties, and stents of today even if he had wanted to.

From Slate ● Jan. 19, 2017

Mr. Loughner, who will receive $660,859 from the settlement for alerting the government, described how doctors urged nurses and others to falsify complaints of chest pain to justify the unnecessary angioplasties.

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2013

Studies have shown that 20 percent to 40 percent of the angioplasties done in New York hospitals are inappropriate, says state health commissioner Nirav Shah.

From US News ● Oct. 18, 2012