This is a procedure to examine blood flow to the heart and test how well the heart is pumping. A doctor inserts a thin plastic tube (catheter) (KATH'eh-ter) into an artery or vein in the arm or leg. From there it can be advanced into the chambers of the heart or into the coronary arteries.
This test can measure blood pressure within the heart and how much oxygen is in the blood. It's also used to get information about the pumping ability of the heart muscle. Catheters are also used to inject dye into the coronary arteries. This is called
coronary angiography
(an"je-OG'rah-fe) or
coronary arteriography
(ar-te"re-OG'rah-fe). Catheters with a balloon on the tip are used in the procedure called coronary angioplasty (commonly referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]). Catheterization of the heart may also be done on infants and children to examine for congenital (kon-JEN'ih-tal) heart defects.
Interventions: Stent Placement / Balloon Angioplasty (Coronary and Peripheral)
Angioplasty is a procedure to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. These blood vessels are called the coronary arteries.
A coronary artery stent is a small, metal mesh tube that expands inside a coronary artery. A stent is often placed after angioplasty. It helps prevent the artery from closing up again. A drug eluting stent has medicine in it that helps prevent closing of the artery.
Before the angioplasty procedure begins, you will be given some pain medicine. You may also be given blood thinning medicines to keep a blood clot from forming. You will lie down on a padded table. Your doctor will make a small cut (incision) on your body, usually near the groin. Then your doctor will insert a catheter (flexible tube) through the incision into an artery. Sometimes the catheter will be placed in your arm or wrist. You will be awake during the procedure.
The doctor uses live x-ray pictures to carefully guide the catheter up into your heart and arteries. Dye will be injected into your body to highlight blood flow through the arteries. This helps the doctors see any blockages in the blood vessels that lead to your heart. A guide wire is moved into and across the blockage. A balloon catheter is pushed over the guide wire and into the blockage. The balloon on the end is blown up (inflated). This opens the blocked vessel and restores proper blood flow to the heart.
A stent (wire mesh tube) may then be placed in this blocked area. The stent is inserted along with the balloon catheter. It expands when the balloon is inflated. The stent is then left there to help keep the artery open.
