Which term describes the technique of mechanically widening a narrowed or obstructed blood vessel, typically due to atherosclerosis?

• A. Angioplasty
• B. Aortic dissection
• C. Asystole
• D. Cardiac cath

Answer: (A)

Angioplasty is the technique used to mechanically widen a narrowed or obstructed blood vessel, typically from atherosclerotic plaque. In this procedure, a catheter with a deflated balloon is threaded to the narrowed segment and then inflated to compress the plaque and enlarge the vessel lumen, restoring blood flow. Often a stent is placed to keep the vessel open afterward. When done in the coronary arteries, it’s called coronary angioplasty or PTCA.

Aortic dissection describes a tear in the aorta’s wall, not a widening technique; asystole means there is no cardiac electrical activity; cardiac catheterization is the diagnostic process of introducing a catheter into the heart (and may be followed by angioplasty, but it is not the widening method itself).