Cardiac catheterization

The Anatomy of the Heart

The heart is muscle located under the breast bone. It acts as a pump moving the blood body. Due to the circulatory demands of the body, the heart muscle requires its own direct supply of oxygen-rich blood. This blood is supplied by the coronary arteries which branch off from the aorta, the great artery leaving the left side of the heart. The coronary arteries branch off into smaller vessels, transporting oxygenated blood througout the entire heart muscle.

The Catheterization Procedure

Cardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter (a long, narrow, flexible tube) through an artery, avein or both, to the heart. The procedure makes it possible to determine the ability of the coronary arteries to deliver oxygenated blood to the heart muscle, and to examine the heart muscle function itself.

You will be mildly sedated before the prosedure begin(local anesthesy in the location of puncture). During the prosedure, your doctor will insert one or more catheter into an artery located in either your groin or arm (at the physician's discretion). Your physician will use an X-ray monitor to guide the catheter toward your heart. The catheter has a specally-shaped tip that helps the doctor guide it into its proper position. you may occasionally be asked to assist the doctor by breathing, holding you breath or coughing.

one of the most important aspects of cardiac catheterization is coronary angiography, or the injection of radiopaque dye (contrast material) through the catheter, allowing the physician to view the heart and coronary arteries X-rays. Radiopaque dyes injected through the catheter, and the resulting X-ray images,can locate blockages within the coronary arteries. Angiography can also show the motion of the heart wall and any leakage of blood back through the valves.