Cardiac catheterization

Cardiac catheterization (also called a heart cath) is a medical procedure for certain heart and blood vessel problems, like clogged arteries or irregular heartbeats.^[1] It can be a test, a treatment, or both.

Doctors performing a cardiac catheterization

Doctors can use cardiac caths to help diagnose many health conditions, including atherosclerosis, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, heart failure, and heart valve disease.^[2] They can also treat conditions like heart attacks during the cath procedure.

Procedure

A cardiac cath is a minimally invasive procedure that requires no cutting and is usually very safe.^[3] In fact, many patients are able to go home the same day as the procedure.^[3]

Doctors insert a catheter (a thin, flexible hollow tube) into a blood vessel in the groin or wrist. They then thread the catheter all the way up through the blood vessel into the aorta into the heart.^[2] They might place the catheter in a chamber if the heart, or into blood vessels like the coronary arteries.

Results from cardiac caths show how well a person's heart is working, including its muscle, its valves and its blood vessels.

Interventions

Once the catheter is in the heart, doctors can do many things. Depending on what the patient needs, they might:^[3]

• Inject a dye that shows them how blood moves through the heart
• Measure pressures in the heart
• Look at the inside of blood vessels to see if they are clogged or diseased
• Take tiny samples of heart tissue for further testing
• Clear a blocked artery
• Open a partially (but not fully) blocked heart valve
• Perform specialized interventions like angioplasty and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)

Angioplasty

Angioplasty is a procedure that can be done during a cardiac cath. Once the doctors have threaded the catheter into a blood vessel, they can inflate a little balloon at the tip of the catheter. This squeezes plaque against the wall of the blood vessel, which improves blood flow because the vessel is no longer clogged.

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)

PCI is a treatment for clogged arteries that can be done during a cardiac cath. It can help open arteries that are clogged with plaque. PCI can also be done after a heart attack to clear blockages and prevent a future attack.^[4]

Usually, during a PCI, a doctor places a stent into a clogged artery in order to hold it open. The stent usually releases medication to help prevent the artery from getting clogged again.^[4]