AngioJet®
Brand name for the Possis Medical family of thrombus-removal products.

Angioplasty
Using a temporarily inflated balloon on a catheter to widen a stenosed or occluded blood vessel (in coronary arteries, procedure is referred to as percutaneous translumenal coronary angioplasty, or PTCA).

Atherectomy
Plaque removal.

Cardiac
Pertaining to the heart.

Catheter
A medical device consisting of a thin, flexible tube, usually applied inside a blood vessel.

Coronary
Relating to the vessels of the heart.

Distal
Further away from the heart, or from the point of origin. (The opposite of “distal” is “proximal.”)

Embolus
A thrombus that has migrated from its original site in the body.

Investigational Device Exemption (IDE)
An application to the FDA to conduct clinical trials of an investigational device.

Ischemic
Lack of oxygen (ischemia).

Mechanical Thrombectomy
A treatment that uses an endovascular device to fragment, disperse, and/or evacuate blood clots in a blood vessel.

Myocardial Infarction
A heart attack, caused by sudden blockage or loss of blood flow.

Occlusion
A blockage.

Peripheral
Situated nearer the periphery, pertaining to arms and legs.

Percutaneous
Passage through the skin.

Pre-Market Approval (PMA)
An FDA approval designating the device to be “safe and effective” for its label-indicated use(s).

Restenosis
Significant recurrence of narrowing after treatment.

Rheolytic™
Possis-trademarked term for fluid-based clot removal.

Saphenous Vein/Saphenous Vein Graft
A large vein removed from the leg and used to construct a surgical bypass around an occluded coronary artery.

Stent
Expandable wire tube, used to widen and support a blocked or narrowed blood vessel.

Thrombectomy
Medical procedure for removing a blood clot.

Thrombus
A blood clot.

Venous
Pertaining to veins.