Around 10% of Deaths from Coronary Stenting, Balloon Angioplasty are Preventable
April 16, 2024 — Each year more than 500,000 Americans undergo percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, a minimally invasive procedure to unclog the arteries that feed the heart. While PCI, which includes both angioplasty and stenting, is one of the most common operations in the world, it does carry a small (about 1-2%) but significant risk of death. Around 10% of all deaths following percutaneous coronary intervention are potentially preventable, a study led by Michigan Medicine finds. The results are published in PLOS ONE. “Deaths in the hospital after PCI are rare and mostly occur in patients who arrive after a heart attack, especially if their cases involve shock,” said senior author Hitinder Gurm, M.B.B.S., chief medical officer at University of Michigan Health and medical director of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium, or BMC2. “The vast majority of deaths after PCI are unpreventable and related to patients’ underlying conditions for which they