Cardiac Catheterization

What is cardiac catheterization?

A cardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter, or thin tube, into a chamber or vessel of the heart for either diagnostic or interventional purposes. Dr. Kiesz will then perform an angiography, which is the use of x-ray with a contrasting dye to determine if there are any blockages of the coronary arteries. Alternatively, he may choose to use a technique called intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), which produces an image of the coronary artery to determine the type of plaque and how much blockage there is.

Why am I getting a cardiac catheterization?

The cardiac catheterization is used to determine what may be causing common heart or blood vessel problems, such as chest pain or an abnormal stress test. Catheterization may also be used to correct an already known heart issue.

What kind of cardiac catheterization might be performed?

Dr. Kiesz will determine which type of cardiac catheterization will be performed, but the two most common procedures he will perform are as follows:

Left Heart Catheterization - the catheter is passed to the left side of the heart where the dye is released and the blood pressures of the left ventricle and the mitral valve are recorded.

Complete Heart Catheterization - Similar in concept to the left heart catheterization, except two catheters are used instead of one - one for the left side and one for the right side of the heart.

Where is the insertion site for the catheter?

Dr. Kiesz will select the insertion site (either the wrist or the groin) based on access difficulty and patient history.