percutaneous coronary intervention
nounMedical Definition of percutaneous coronary intervention
: balloon angioplasty of a coronary artery : percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty
broadly
: any procedure that is performed to widen the lumen of an obstructed coronary artery and involves passing a catheter through the skin and into a blood vessel (as of the groin) to the site of obstruction so the blockage can be compressed (as by use of a balloon catheter often followed by placement of a stent) or removed (as by atherectomy)
—abbreviation PCI