Cardiac Catheterization
Cardiac catheterization is a hospital-based
procedure in which a long thin tube known as a catheter
is inserted into the vascular system and threaded up into the heart via the
blood vessels. Once inside the heart, pressures are measured from within one or
more heart chambers and then x-ray dye is administered via the catheter to take
pictures of the inside of the heart as well as the arteries going to the heart.
The procedure itself is short-lived and is
performed under local anesthesia. Mild intravenous sedation is frequently
administered. A general anesthetic is not only not necessary but also raises the
risk of the procedure considerably. A video replay is performed with the patient
immediately following the procedure and the anatomy (and frequently
recommendations) is discussed.
Cardiac catheterization is generally performed
looking for blockages in the heart arteries that may lead to heart attacks.
Precise knowledge of the location and severity of the blockage(s) is critical to
the management of many patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease
("hardening of the arteries to the heart"). With the knowledge gained from this
study, recommendations are made regarding management which may include
medications, angioplasty and stent deployment, bypass surgery or potentially a
combination of the above. The procedure is also utilized in many patients prior
to open-heart surgery for valve repair/replacement or correction of congenital
heart problems to be certain that concomitant coronary artery disease is not
present.
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