ABSTRACT
Introduction Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are synonymous and encompass all types of catheter-based interventions for invasive treatment of coronary artery disease. Table 34.1
shows that this technique, introduced in 1977 by Grüentzig, is but an example of a great variety of catheter interventions for heart disease constituting the discipline of interventional cardiology.1-17 However, in contrast to the other listed interventions, PTCA has evolved to become one of the most common medical interventions in industrialized countries.
