Ancillary
Services
| Cardiac
Catheterization Laboratory |
The
Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory is where cardiologists
can diagnose and treat heart conditions using catheters instead
of surgery. Catheters are spaghetti-like plastic tubes used
to insert special equipment to diagnose or treat a heart problem.
The many different sizes and shapes of catheters allow the
cardiologist to perform a variety of tasks.
Many
different procedures can be done in the catheterization
lab instead of an operating room. The basic parts of different
procedures are very similar. For diagnosis, catheters may
be used to measure pressure in the heart. Catheters can
be used to insert special dyes that enable doctors to take
pictures of the inside of the heart (called angiography).
These diagnostic procedures help the doctor plan your care
by providing information that an echocardiogram may not
be able to show. Often, catheters are used to treat common
heart defects; this use is called interventional or therapeutic
catheterization.
Catheters
may be used to open up narrowed blood vessels and heart
valves, close holes in the septum (wall) between heart chambers
and close abnormal blood vessels. Very specialized catheters
are used to study and treat heart rhythms. They give cardiologists
information they can't get by looking at an electrocardiogram
(ECG). They also can be used to treat some rhythm problems
through a procedure called radiofrequency ablation.
