Cardiac Catheterization for diagnosing and treating heart disease
Cardiac Catheterization is a minimally invasive catheter-based diagnostic and interventional imaging for cardiovascular conditions.
Cardiac catheterization which is a procedure that helps your cardiac surgeon or cardiologist diagnose or treat heart conditions. It is sometimes called heart catheterization, heart cath, or cardiac cath, which is performed in the cardiac catheterization lab (Cath Lab) at St. Rose Dominican Siena and San Martin Campuses.
You will be required to fast, no eating to drinking at least 8 hours prior to the procedure. You’ll mostly likely be given conscious sedation, which means you’re awake during the procedure, but very relaxed. A local anesthetic will be used to numb the puncture site.
Your doctor inserts a catheter into an artery, usually in the wrist or groin, and using X-ray guidance your doctor will feed the catheter into your heart. He or she will inject a contrast dye to make your arteries and heart show up better on X-rays. This allows your doctor to track how blood flows through your heart and blood vessels.
Once the catheter is in place, your doctor is able to perform various tests and treatments by visualizing the blood vessels of your heart using a comprehensive cardiovascular imaging system.
Doctors use cardiac catheterization to evaluate the function of the heart and its valves and major blood vessels. Your doctor may order one of these diagnostic procedures for the following heart conditions:
Cardiac Catheterization is minimally invasive, unlike open surgery. This means you will recover more quickly and with less pain than more invasive procedures. Recovery time depends on your health and depending on the reason for the procedure.
The system is designed to provide a wide range of viewing angles, optimizes image capture, while allowing easy access to patients. The system’s processing speed and clarity of display reduces the procedure time for patients.
The doctors at St. Rose Dominican's San Martin hospital uses the Philips Azurion with FlexArm imaging system, which is a comprehensive cardiovascular X-ray lab. This ceiling-mounted system provides unlimited imaging flexibility for diverse procedures and positioning freedom for medical teams.
A specially trained cardiologist and the St. Rose Dominican team of cardiology fellows, nurses and technicians will perform your cardiac catheterization procedure in the Catheterization Lab.
A cardiac angiogram is a picture of your heart that lets your doctor look for problems such as abnormal blood flow. Your doctor may also refer to it as a coronary angiogram.
About AngiogramPacemaker surgery is used to treat irregular heartbeats or arrhythmias. A pacemaker is a small electronic device that helps your heart's electrical system by keeping your heart beating at the right pace. Inserting the pacemaker into your body is called implantation.
About Pacemaker SurgeryPCI, also known as coronary angioplasty, is a procedure used to open clogged heart arteries, to restore blood flow to the heart.
About PCICardiac catheterization can last from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the reason for it. After the procedure, you will be moved to a recovery room for a few hours. During this time, you must lie flat. You will be asked to keep your leg straight and will not be able to get out of bed. Your heartbeat and other vital signs (pulse and blood pressure) will be checked during your recovery. You may need to stay overnight in a cardiac care unit.
If you are discharged on the same day, you are required to have a designated family member or friend to drive you home.
If you're having a procedure such as an Angiogram, Permanent Pacemaker Implantation or a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, you will need to take it easy for a few days. Ask your doctor about returning to work and other activities. Your doctor may suggest cardiac rehabilitation to help you recover
Complications and risks include problems with the dye, irregular heartbeat, blood vessel damage, stroke, and heart attack. Needing emergency heart surgery is also a risk.
Be sure to follow all instructions provided by your health care team. It is important to take your medications as directed and to make follow-up appointments before leaving the hospital.
If your cardiac catheterization is part of a test, such as an angiogram to look for blockages in your arteries, your doctor will talk to you about the results afterward. The test can provide information about the need for:
Your doctor will insert the catheter into an artery, usually in the wrist or groin. A local anesthetic will be used to numb the puncture site.
After the procedure, patients are advised to drink water to help flush the contrast dye out of your system. Tell your health care provider if you have kidney problems or have ever had a reaction to dye or contrast. You may be told to avoid procedures using iodine-based dyes.
Depending on the procedure, you may need to spend the night in a cardiac care unit.
Talk to your doctor to find out if you are a candidate.
Find a St. Rose doctor who performs Cardiac Catheterization or call us at (855) 236-0702.
