The balloon is then inflated, forcing the blockage open. While these techniques offer the hope of improvement in the disease process and sometimes of freedom from most heart medicines, they are not perfect. Usually, the process is slow and the person does not suffer a heart attack. Sometimes, however, the blockage returns quickly and a heart attack can follow. Also, during the procedure itself, the artery can close completely and can be treated only by emergency bypass grafting surgery.
Emergency surgery carries a higher mortality, of course.
For these reasons, the decision of whether to perform an interventional technique and, if so, which one, should be left to a qualified cardiologist. These techniques are wonderful for most people who have them. The complications, however, can be quite serious. In the case of veins, they are removed entirely from the legs and sewn so that one end receives blood from the aorta and the other end feeds the blood to a coronary artery beyond a blockage. This type of surgery is now routine, and can be performed safely even in patients older than 80 years.