If you find out that you have blockages in your blood vessels, you may hear those blockages referred to as de novo lesions. De novo is Latin for “from the beginning” or “from new.”
A de novo lesion is simply a segment of artery-blocking plaque (a fatty substance) that has not previously been treated with angioplasty or stenting.
Angioplasty is a procedure in which a thin, flexible tube called a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel, and a balloon at the tip of the catheter is opened and closed to push the plaque aside, reopening the vessel to blood flow. Sometimes a stent - a metal, mesh tube - is also placed via catheter at the blockage site to permanently prop the artery open once the blockage has been pushed out of the way.
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