To diagnose and treat certain cardiovascular conditions, cardiac catheterization is the procedure often used. An extended thin tube known as a catheter is inserted into an artery or vein in your groin, neck or arm and is threaded through your blood vessels to your heart throughout cardiac catheterization.
As a part of a cardiac catheterization, doctors will then do diagnostic tests while using this catheter. Coronary angioplasty, coronary stenting, and some other cardiovascular disease treatments are done using it.
You will be given medications to assist you relax, since you’ll usually be awake throughout cardiac catheterization. Recovery time for it is fast, and there’s an occasional risk of complications.
Why it’s done
To check if you’ve got a heart problem, cardiac catheterization is done. It is part of a corrective procedure for an acknowledged heart problem.
If you’re having cardiac catheterization as a test for heart disease, your doctor can:
- Check the pumping function of your heart (right or left ventriculogram)
- Diagnose heart defects present from birth (congenital heart defects)
- Locate narrowing or blockages in your blood vessels that might cause chest pain (angiogram)
- Look for issues with your heart valves
- Measure pressure and oxygen levels in numerous components of your heart (hemodynamic assessment)
- Take a sample of tissue from your heart (biopsy)
Cardiac catheterization is additionally used as a part of some procedures to treat cardiovascular disease. These procedures include:
- Closing holes within the heart and fixing different congenital defects
- Closing off a part of your heart to stop blood clots
- Opening narrow heart valves (balloon valvuloplasty)
- Repairing or substituting heart valves
- Treating irregular heart rhythms with ablation
- Widening a narrowed artery (angioplasty) with or without stent placement
