[Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Non-surgical treatment of vascular stenoses and occlusions with balloon catheters (author's transl)].

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was invented by Dotter, in 1964, for the treatment of atheromatous stenosis in inoperable patients. But it only became widely used since Gruntzig made it free from risk of major arterial wall damage by developing an inflatable balloon catheter. Trained vascular radiologists can now treat with little danger not only ilio-femoral, popliteal, renal, coronary or even subclavian stenoses, but also a number of local obstructions of leg arteries. The respective indications of angioplasty and vascular surgery are not yet well defined and must be discussed for each patient.