A balloon catheter is a long, flexible tube with a small inflatable balloon at its tip, designed to be threaded through a blood vessel to a specific site within the circulatory system or heart. When positioned correctly, the balloon is inflated under controlled pressure to achieve a therapeutic or diagnostic purpose, then deflated and the catheter withdrawn.
In coronary artery disease, balloon catheters are central to balloon angioplasty (part of percutaneous coronary intervention): the balloon is inflated within a narrowed coronary artery to compress the atherosclerotic plaque against the vessel wall and restore blood flow. In most cases a stent (a small metal mesh tube) is then deployed to keep the artery open.
Balloon catheters are also used in valvuloplasty to stretch narrowed (stenotic) heart valves, and in pulmonary artery banding and other structural procedures. An intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) is a specialised device in which a large balloon catheter is placed in the aorta and inflated and deflated in synchrony with the heartbeat to assist circulation in cardiogenic shock.
All procedures involving balloon catheters are carried out in a cardiac catheterisation laboratory under X-ray guidance (fluoroscopy) by trained interventional cardiologists. The procedure is usually performed under local anaesthetic and light sedation.
« Back to Glossary Index