How to Pronounce Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Say it like this: per-kyoo-TAY-nee-us KOR-oh-neh-ree in-ter-VEN-shun. The stress falls on the third syllable of the first word (TAY) and the first syllable of the second word (KOR). A good way to remember it is to say 'per-kyoo-TAY' loudly, then drop your voice for 'nee-us.'

The abbreviation is PCI, which you say by spelling out the letters: P-C-I. You'll often see doctors and medical articles use 'PCI' as shorthand for the full term.

Percutaneous comes from Latin words meaning 'through the skin.' In medical language, it describes a procedure that goes through the skin without major surgery. The 'per-' means 'through' and 'cutaneous' relates to the skin.

Coronary comes from the Latin word for 'crown' because the heart's blood vessels look like a crown around the heart. When you hear 'coronary,' it always relates to the heart and its blood vessels.

Intervention simply means a procedure or treatment that a doctor performs to help a patient. It comes from Latin words meaning 'to come between.' In this case, the doctor is 'intervening' or stepping in to treat a problem.

You could call it a 'minimally invasive heart procedure' or say that it's a way doctors work on heart blood vessels by going through the skin rather than performing open surgery. It's shorter to just say 'PCI' once people know what that means.

You might hear 'coronary artery disease' or 'coronary care unit' (CCU) in a hospital. Both use 'coronary' because they relate to the heart and its blood vessels. Any medical word starting with 'coronary' is talking about something connected to the heart.

Many people accidentally stress the first syllable (PER), saying 'PER-kyoo-tay-nee-us' instead of the correct 'per-kyoo-TAY-nee-us.' Remember to say the third syllable loudly (TAY), not the first one.