A coronary atherotomy is a lot like a balloon angioplasty procedure in which a balloon is guided to the target lesion, where the physician inflates it to compress the plaque against the arterial walls. Unlike an angioplasty balloon, however, the atherotomy balloon has three or four microsurgical blades, known as "atherotomes," mounted on the balloon surface. These atherotomes are intended to score (notch) the plaque, and enable the balloon to dilate the lesion with less pressure than balloon angioplasty.
