Coronary laser angioplasty.

Balloon angioplasty was introduced among the armament of therapy for coronary heart disease in 1977 by Gruentzig in Zurich. Since the first case was successful, this method of treatment spread out rapidly so that at the present time, more than 400,000 procedures are being performed per year in the U.S. The reasons for such on explosive success includes the relative safety of the procedure, the reduction in cost as compared to surgical bypass procedures, the short in-hospital stay, and short recovery time.