Glossary of Terms

50 percent or greater vessel re-occlusion.

Radiation treatment given by placing radioactive material directly in or near the target, which is often a tumor.

Procedures used to study the various functions of the heart. Using different techniques, the coronary arteries can be viewed by injecting dye or opened using balloon angioplasty.

Disease affecting the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular diseases include arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, hypertension, orthostatic hypotension, endocarditis, diseases of the aorta and its branches, disorders of the peripheral vascular system, and congenital heart disease.

A thin plastic tube used to access various parts of the body, such as the coronary arteries. A treatment device – such as a stent – is often attached to the catheter.

Related to arteries that supply blood and nutrients to the heart.

A test to determine if coronary artery disease is present. Contrast dye is injected into the coronary arteries and a fluoroscope allows clinicians to see the vessels on an X-ray screen.

The arteries that surround the heart and supply blood containing oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle.

The medical term for open heart or bypass surgery. This surgery is carried out to relieve angina (chest pain or discomfort caused by reduced blood supply to the heart) by creating a bypass around blocked or narrowed coronary arteries. The bypass itself is a short length of artery or vein taken from the leg or chest and grafted onto the heart above and below the blocked artery.

Disease affecting the coronary arteries that surround the heart and supply blood to the heart muscle. It occurs when the lumen of the coronary arteries becomes narrowed with plaque deposits (a build-up of cholesterol and other fats, calcium and other elements carried in the blood).

Drug-eluting stent refers to a stent with an active drug that is intended to produce a therapeutic effect (e.g., reduction of restenosis).

A thin, flexible wire that can be inserted into a confined space to act as a guide to facilitate passage of a device, such as a catheter.

Area within the boundaries of the stent.

A tiny ultrasound "camera" that is threaded into the arteries to give physicians a cross-sectional view, showing where the normal artery wall ends and the plaque begins. Used in conjunction with angiography, the catheter-based IVUS technology gives physicians a more detailed understanding of the plaque in patients’ arteries. In certain situations, IVUS can aid in the selection and sizing of stents and balloons and can offer assurance that a stent has been properly deployed.

Neointimal formation post procedure.

Length of the lesion, as measured from end-to-end by a core laboratory.

The hollow space inside a blood vessel through which the blood flows.

Cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI) including Q- and non Q-wave MI, and target vessel revascularization (TVR).

Permanent damage to the heart tissue and muscle due to the interruption of the blood supply to the area. Commonly referred to as a heart attack.

The act of closing or the state of being closed.

A carrier that provides uniform drug coverage along the stent, enables time-released dosing and is vascular compatible.

After a stent has been expanded, another balloon catheter may be inserted inside the stent and inflated to size the stent more precisely to the vessel wall.

The use of a balloon catheter to dilate a coronary lesion prior to placement of the coronary stent. This procedure provides the physician access for the stent delivery system as well as aiding in selection of stent size.

The growth of neointimal tissue within an artery after angioplasty and stenting.

An expandable metal tube that supports the vessel wall and maintains blood flow through the opened vessel.