Libby, I had one when I had my Heart Attack and the teaching hospital I was at, said they chose not to stent my blockages as they were afraid they'd rip the artery due to the 'hardening of the arteries'. So they did 3 in 2001; one to see if there were any blockages and they did, so had to send me to a larger hospital to have a stent put in, which required another cath. Then they did another cath procedure to check the carotid arteries, then I had a right sided carotid endarterectomy done. After that, it was to check when my symptoms had gotten worse, more SOB, angina, etc., another stent, some angioplasties as well, then the 3rd stent, and of course that is when I ended up with the bypass. And recently another big angina attack and a helicopter ride and another heart cath later, my med's have been some changed, by deletion and adding a stronger nitro dur patch.
I can tell you in most instances the procedure has improved and that the scarring hasn't been too much of an issue, though I do scar very easily.
When you are up against heart disease and you have coronary artery disease, the problems with angina occurring, sometimes the need of another heart cath is there. It's either that, or...?
Hugs, Teri 