SINCE 1828
percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
nounMedical Definition of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
: a cardiovascular procedure that is performed to widen the lumen of a partially or fully occluded blood vessel (as the femoral or coronary artery) narrowed or blocked typically by atherosclerotic plaque and that involves passing a balloon catheter through the skin and into a blood vessel (as of the groin or arm) to be guided to the site of obstruction where the tip of the catheter is expanded by inflation to compress and flatten the plaque
especially
: percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty
—abbreviation PTA
Comments on percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
What made you want to look up percutaneous transluminal angioplasty? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Farm Idioms Quiz
-
- What does 'poke' refer to in the expression 'pig in a poke'?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
Farm Idioms Quiz
Not your children's farm quiz.
Take the quiz -
Up in the Sky: A Quiz
It's a bird? It's a plane? No, I'm really asking. What is it?
Take the quiz -
True or False?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
Take the quiz -
Syn City
Build a city of skyscrapers—one synonym at a time.
Play the game
Share percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
Resources for percutaneous transluminal angioplasty