Surgical repair or recanalization of a blood vessel.

• A. Angiography
• B. Angioplasty
• C. Aneurysm
• D. Empyema

Answer: (B)

Opening a blocked or narrowed blood vessel to restore blood flow is what angioplasty does. It uses a catheter with a small balloon that is guided to the site of the narrowing and then inflated to widen the vessel’s lumen. Often a stent is placed to keep the vessel open, preventing recoil and maintaining patency. This percutaneous approach—percutaneous transluminal angioplasty—is a common way to recanalize vessels without open surgery.

Angiography, the imaging that maps the vessels using contrast, guides the procedure but is not the repair itself. An aneurysm refers to a ballooning of the vessel wall, which is a different problem and often treated differently. Empyema is a collection of pus in the pleural space and has no relation to vessels.