Post-Heart Attack Procedure Backed
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Angioplasty enhances the short-term survival prospects of heart attack victims better than clot-dissolving drug therapy, researchers said. In a review of previous studies involving more than 2,500 patients, researchers at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit found that angioplasty saved an additional 21 lives per 1,000 patients. Angioplasty involves a tiny balloon that is threaded through clogged arteries to ease blood flow.
