Word: balloon
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...Tiny balloon unclogs heart blood vessels
...called a guiding catheter into an artery in the leg (although an arm artery can be used instead). Working the catheter up through the blood vessels, he reached the opening of the obstructed heart artery. Then Stertzer inserted a narrower and more flexible hollow catheter, with a tiny deflated balloon near its tip, through the Teflon tube and into the heart artery itself. Guided by X rays that determined precisely where the artery was blocked, he positioned the balloon exactly in the middle of the arterial narrowing and inflated it for several seconds. That compressed the obstructing plaque against...
...have been treated with the new technique since it was introduced in Switzerland by Dr. Andreas Grüntzig less than a year ago. The procedure grew out of a similar technique that has been used with some success to clear clogged leg arteries. Of the ten so-called balloon dilatations attempted on heart patients at Lenox Hill since March, seven have been successful in clearing soft, non-calcified plaque obstructions and relieving angina. (In three cases, doctors were unable to work the catheters through the arteries to the point of blockage.) The promising findings lead Chief of Medicine Michael...
...other patients, a variation of the new technique may make bypass surgery feasible. Explains Cardiac Surgeon Eugene Wallsh: "When you have too many obstructions in an artery, you can't bypass each one. But with the balloon catheter, you can open up some blocks and then bypass others." Wallsh has done just that in six patients. Adds Stertzer: "It might also be possible to reopen bypass grafts that have closed down...
Jogging is a very '70s pursuit, and Hausman's goons have to shoo away armies of gum-soled fitness freaks whenever they get in Hair's way. Most are gracious, and one even pitches in to help tether a 40-ft. red phallic balloon for the crew. But a thirtyish intruder does not take it well...