Seeing the blood flow, including the number and degree of any blockages, allows a heart specialist or surgeon to recommend the most appropriate treatment for you. Your treatment depends on many factors, such as your age, heart muscle function, and other health problems. Initial treatment may include changes to your diet and a monitored exercise program. Your doctor may prescribe medication to prevent chest pain. If this initial treatment is ineffective over a brief time or if your coronary arteries are severely blocked, the blockages may need to be opened up or removed.
Balloon angioplasty is a method of opening up, or dilating, a partially blocked artery.
The procedure involves some risk, but the risk is less than that of coronary artery bypass surgery. If you have very severe or multiple blockages, your doctor may recommend coronary artery bypass surgery. Bypass surgery allows the blocked areas of artery to be bypassed. Arteries from the chest, abdomen, or arm or veins from the legs are used to bypass the areas of blockage in the heart artery. New techniques for treating blocked arteries, particularly through the catheter, are under investigation.