Coronary Angioplasty (Femoral Approach) - Medical Animation
This animation may only be used in support of a single legal proceeding and for no other purpose. Read our License Agreement for details. To license this image for other purposes, click here.
Coronary Angioplasty (Femoral Approach) - Medical Animation
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: A coronary angioplasty procedure is also known as percutaneous coronary intervention. The procedure is done on blood vessels called coronary arteries. They supply your heart muscle with oxygen. The goal is to restore blood flow if a substance, called plaque, has significantly narrowed these vessels. To begin the procedure, the doctor will numb the skin in your groin. A needle will be placed through your skin and into the femoral artery. Next, a flexible guidewire will be passed through the needle into your artery. Then, the needle will be withdrawn. It will be exchanged for a small, flexible tube called a sheath. This permits access into your artery. You may feel pressure when the doctor inserts the sheath, but you will not feel it moving inside your artery. Next, the guidewire will be advanced up to your heart. A flexible tube, called a catheter, will be advanced over the wire to your coronary arteries. The progress of the procedure will be checked with an x-ray device called a fluoroscope. At this point, your doctor will remove the guidewire. Then, the doctor will move the tip of the catheter just inside the coronary artery to be examined. A special dye will be injected into the artery. This allows your doctor to view it better with the fluoroscope. The dye will make any blockages in the artery stand out. If a significant blockage is found, your doctor will insert a guidewire into the artery. A balloon on the tip of the catheter will be moved along the wire to the blockage. When the balloon inflates, it will expand the artery and improve the blood flow. You may feel some chest discomfort while this is happening. After this, your doctor will deflate and remove the balloon. A wire mesh tube, called a stent, may be placed in the treated area. The stent helps keep the coronary artery open. Your doctor will choose the proper size stent, which is compressed over a balloon. The stent will be moved into the artery over the same guidewire. When the balloon is inflated, the stent will expand and lock into place. After the balloon catheter is taken out, the stent will stay in place to hold the artery open. At the end of the procedure, the guidewire will be removed. To find out more about coronary artery angioplasty, talk to your healthcare provider.
"Our firm was able to settle our case at an all day mediation yesterday and
I am confident that the detail and overall appearance of the medical
illustrations significantly contributed to the settlement. When we require
medical illustrations in the future, I will be sure to contact [MLA]."
Noel Turner, III
Burts, Turner, Rhodes & Thompson
Spartanburg, SC
"Medical Legal Art wins our firm's highest accolades for professionalism and
exhibit quality. In fact, many of the doctors I work with request color
copies of your outstanding artwork to show to patients during the informed
consent process."
Jeanne Dolan, BSRN, AlNC Legal Nurse Consultant Golden Valley, MN
"It is my experience that it's much more effective to show a jury what
happened than simply to tell a jury what happened. In this day and age where
people are used to getting information visually, through television and
other visual media, I would be at a disadvantage using only words.
I teach a Litigation Process class at the University of Baltimore Law Schooland use [Medical Legal Art's] animation in my class. Students always saythat they never really understood what happened to [to my client] until theysaw the animation.
Animations are powerful communication tools that should be used wheneverpossible to persuade juries."
Andrew G. Slutkin Snyder Slutkin & Kopec Baltimore, MD
"Thank you for the splendid medical-legal art work you did for us in the
case of a young girl who was blinded by a bb pellet. As a result of your
graphic illustrations of this tragic injury, we were able to persuade the
insurance company to increase their initial offer of $75,000.00 to
$475,000.00, just short of their policy limits.
We simply wanted you to know how pleased we were with your work which, to
repeat, was of superlative character, and to let you know that we would be
more than willing to serve as a reference in case you ever need one. Many
thanks for an extraordinary and dramatic depiction of a very serious injury
which clearly "catapulted" the insurance company's offer to a "full and
fair" amount to settle this case."
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.
