Your doctor may be talking to about having a cardiac catheterization because you have signs or symptoms of heart trouble.

Cardiac Catheterization

Cardiac catheterization is (also called cardiac cath or coronary angiogram) is an invasive imaging procedure that allows your doctor to evaluate your heart function. This procedure is done in our hospital Cath Lab and is used to:

• Evaluate or confirm the presence of coronary artery disease, valve disease or disease of the aorta.
• Evaluate heart muscle function
• Determine the need for further treatment (such as interventional procedure or coronary artery bypass graft or coronary artery bypass (CAB) surgery.

During a cardiac catheterization, a long, narrow tube called a catheter is inserted through a plastic introducer sheath (a short, hollow tube that is inserted into a blood vessel in your leg or arm). The catheter is guided through the blood vessel to the coronary arteries with the aid of a special x-ray machine.

Contrast material is injected through the catheter and x-ray movies are created as the contrast material moves through the heart’s chambers, valves and major vessels. This part of the procedure is called a coronary angiogram (or coronary angiography).

Angioplasty

Angioplasty and related techniques are known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Angioplasty is a procedure in which a narrowed section of the coronary artery is widened.