Artery-opening angioplasty via the arm is safe for elderly

Research we’re watching Coronary angioplasty, a procedure to open a blocked artery in the heart, usually involves snaking a thin tube (catheter) through a vessel in the upper thigh up to the heart. But growing numbers of doctors now perform the technique through a person’s wrist artery instead. In people ages 70 or older, these so-called radial angioplasties appear to be safer than the conventional approach, a new study finds. …