Quitting smoking at time of angioplasty may improve outcomes, study finds

Patients who quit smoking at the time of undergoing angioplasty - a nonsurgical procedure used to improve blood flow to the heart - may benefit much more from the procedure than those who continue to smoke. This is according to a new study published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. Patients with atherosclerosis - an accumulation of fatty plaques in the blood vessels of the heart - may be required to undergo angioplasty if medications or lifestyle changes fail to improve heart health enough, or if a patient suffers a heart attack or chest pain as a result of their condition. The procedure involves the insertion of a thin tube into an artery in the arm or the groin, which is threaded to the coronary arteries. The tube has a small balloon on the end, which is inflated to push any plaque against the wall of the artery. This relieves the blockage and improves blood flow. During angioplasty, a small mesh tube called a stent is normally inserted, which expands and fixes to the artery wall as the balloon inflates. This stent reduces the likelihood of the artery becoming blocked again. Each year, around 1 million adults in the US undergo angioplasty. In this latest study, senior author Dr. John Spertus, clinical director of outcomes research at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, MO, and colleagues set out to see how quitting smoking affected patients' quality of life and chest pain following angioplasty.