![]() In order to keep the blood flowing forward during its journey through the heart, there are valves between each of the heart's pumping chambers. This buildup causes the inside of the arteries to become rough and narrowed, limiting the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. This is the narrowing of the arteries caused by a buildup of fatty material within the walls of the arteries. There may be other reasons for your doctor to recommend a cath procedure as well.Ĭardiac catheterization is also used to detect and evaluate heart conditions or diseases, including the following: Other reasons for the cath procedure include evaluation of myocardial perfusion (blood flow to the heart muscle) after heart attack, heart bypass surgery, coronary angioplasty (the opening of a coronary artery using a balloon or other method) or placement of a stent (a tiny expandable metal coil placed inside the artery to keep the artery open). ![]() Your doctor may schedule you for a cardiac catheterization if you have recently experienced cardiac symptoms such as the following:Ī screening examination or test, such as an EKG or stress test, is usually done during the initial evaluation of symptoms such as those listed above. If such a test suggests a possibility of some type of heart disease that needs to be explored further, the doctor may determine that a cardiac cath is necessary. Depending on what your doctor finds during the procedure, however, you may have to be admitted to the hospital. ![]() A local anesthesia is used at the catheter entry site prior to the procedure.ĭue to advances in knowledge, technology and techniques, cardiac cath is often performed on an outpatient basis, meaning that the procedure is done early in the day and you usually are able to go home the same day. You will be somewhat awake during the procedure, although you will receive a small amount of sedating medication. With the use of fluoroscopy (a special type of X-ray), the doctor can identify blockages in the coronary arteries as the dye moves through them. The catheter can be advanced into the coronary arteries and a dye injected into the arteries (coronary angiography or arteriography). The tip of the catheter can be placed into various parts of the heart to measure the pressure within the heart’s chambers. Once the catheter is in place, several diagnostic techniques may be used. In cardiac catheterization (often abbreviated as "cath"), a very small catheter, or hollow tube, is advanced from a vessel in the groin (or sometimes the arm) up into the heart. This means patients tend to have less pain and recover much more quickly.įor appointments or additional information, call 85. Treatments that once called for open-heart surgery with large incisions and long recovery times can now be done with small incisions during an outpatient or short-term hospital visit. We can often insert the catheter through a vein in your arm rather than through your groin. Catheters let us use tiny instruments to repair heart problems from inside the blood vessels. Catheters have changed the way heart disease is diagnosed and treated.
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