If a significant blockage is found and which may be related to patient’s symptoms, then the cardiologist may recommend and may proceed with angioplasty where a balloon is utilized to open the blockage.
Stent, made out of wire mesh and mounted on a balloon, is usually placed after angioplasty in the coronary arteries. Stents help to prevent an artery narrowing again after angioplasty. Stents coated with medications are called drug-eluting stents and prevent further narrowing of blockages.
Angioplasty/stent procedures are also performed for blockages in other blood vessels besides coronary arteries.