Peripheral vascular disease (PVD), also known as peripheral artery disease (PAD), involves damage to or blockage in the blood vessels located away from the heart, including those that supply blood to the head, neck, brain, abdomen and legs. The first line of prevention is adopting lifestyle changes to lower your risk for heart disease and stroke. When conservative treatment fails, invasive procedures may be recommended.

Diagnostic Peripheral Procedures

Angiography: This test uses X-rays and dye to reveal possible blockages.

Interventional Peripheral Procedures

Balloon angioplasty: Also known as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), this procedure involves passing a catheter with a balloon on its tip through the arteries to a coronary blockage. The balloon is inflated, splitting the plaque and stretching the wall of the coronary vessel to allow more blood flow to the heart muscle.

Balloon angioplasty with stent: A catheter (long hollow tube) with a balloon on its tip is passed through to a blockage. The balloon is inflated, splitting the plaque and stretching the wall of the coronary vessel to allow more blood flow to the heart muscle. Then a stent (a small metal-mesh tube) is inserted and left in place to prevent reclosing. 

Peripheral atherectomy: If plaque has hardened and calcified, a rotational atherectomy catheter (an olive-shaped diamond burr that rotates at a very high speed) is used to pulverize the plaque into harmless microscopic particles that are washed away by the blood stream.

Peripheral laser atherectomy: A catheter that emits high-energy light (laser) is used to unblock the artery. The catheter is maneuvered through the vessel until it reaches the blockage. Laser energy is used to essentially vaporize the blockage and increase blood flow.