Chest pain may be a symptom of coronary heart disease, but a procedure known as cardiac catheterization is the best way to know for sure. When catheterization reveals that a problem does exist, the next step is very often a procedure known as angioplasty, often involving a stent. So what do these terms mean? Who is a candidate? And what is recovery like? These are important questions, since coronary heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. Here to explain it all is George J. Saviano, MD, an interventional cardiologist with Saint Peter’s Healthcare System in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
