Coronary angioplasty and stenting are procedures used to open up blood vessels in your heart that may be clogged by plaque. Plaque is made up of cholesterol, calcium, and other debris. It can build up on the walls of your arteries, eventually narrowing the inside of the blood vessel. Angioplasty and stenting are often used to treat a heart attack. Heart attacks can happen when a clogged artery partly or totally stops blood flow in a coronary artery. Coronary angioplasty and stenting may also be done during a cardiac catheterization procedure if blockages are found. Angioplasty is sometimes called percutaneous coronary intervention, or P-C-I. It is also called percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, or P-T-C-A.