Heart Beat: Drive-through angioplasty?
Heart Beat
Drive-through angioplasty?
Given what angioplasty involves — having your heart fixed from the inside out — it is a remarkably safe procedure. In fact, it is getting so safe that experts are exploring whether everyone who undergoes the procedure needs to spend the night in the hospital.
Several European studies have indicated that staying overnight need not always be standard operating procedure. The latest, a randomized trial from the Netherlands published in the May 1, 2007 Circulation, suggests that about 80% of people who have uncomplicated, nonemergency angioplasty can go home the same day.
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