X-Ray Image Before Angioplasty Using a Razor-Laced Balloon

The center portion where the artery is descending and forks has an obvious blockage just below the fork. Because I have a mild form of Von Willebrands Disease, the surgeons had to determine if they should use just a balloon, a Stent or a new technique using a razor blade-laced balloon. The re-occurance of blockage using just the balloon is about 30%. With a Stent, the chance for a re-occurance of the blockage is about 15%. Even though that is significantly better, the requirement of using anti-coagulents for a prolonged period of time would have made me at higher risk after the procedure than if they used a non-foreign object procedure. Time will tell if they made the correct decision. (The extra "artery" that goes all the way up the picture is actually the ascending artery from the femoral artery and what you see is the catheter through which they fed their instruments.)