Smokers undergoing angioplasty, a procedure used to treat narrowed or blocked coronary arteries, can expect a much better quality of life afterwards if they quit cigarettes, a new study has shown.

Angioplasty involves placing a balloon in a narrowed or blocked artery. The balloon is blown up and this opens up the artery, restoring blood flow to the heart.

This is a common procedure among people who suffer with chest pain and those who have suffered a heart attack, or are at high risk of a heart attack.

US scientists looked at over 2,700 adults who had undergone angioplasty. The participants were assessed for chest pain and quality of life following the procedure.

All were followed up for a year after the procedure and during that time, almost 40% of smokers quit the habit, while the rest continued to smoke.

The study found that smokers who quit the habit when they had angioplasty had a much better quality of life compared to those who kept smoking. While almost one in three smokers still suffered with chest pain after the procedure, this fell to one in five among those who quit smoking.

"It's a no-brainer. Stopping smoking seems like a relatively easy way to increase your chances of getting the best outcomes from angioplasty," commented the study's senior author, Dr John Spertus, of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

He added that it is not just important that doctors treat a blockage, they also ‘have to work with patients to help them stop smoking'.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

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