Cardiac Catheterization

What is cardiac catheterization?

Cardiac catheterization is an imaging procedure that helps your cardiologist assess your heart’s function and diagnose or treat heart conditions. It’s used to:

• Evaluate heart muscle function
• Locate narrow areas or blockages in blood vessels
• Measure oxygen levels and pressure in your heart
• Take a tissue sample (biopsy)
• Confirm the presence of a heart problem
• Assess the need for heart disease treatment
• Surgically repair heart or blood vessel abnormalities

Your cardiologist lets you know if cardiac catheterization is right for you based on your symptoms or results from diagnostic tests. You might be a good candidate if you have shortness of breath, chest pain, or other symptoms of heart disease.

How should I prepare for cardiac catheterization?

Before cardiac catheterization, don’t eat or drink anything for at least six hours before the procedure. Follow your cardiologist’s instructions and take all of your supplements or medications with you to the test. Try to come relaxed. Your doctor can give you medications to help you feel more comfortable.

What should I expect during the procedure?

Your cardiologist completes cardiac catheterization at a hospital in an operating room with special X-ray and imaging machines. A technician checks your pulse and blood pressure prior to the procedure. You’ll likely remain awake during surgery but will be sedated.

You’ll have an IV line in your arm or hand and electrodes on your chest to monitor your heart during the procedure. A nurse or technician gives you a shot to numb the area before your doctor inserts a catheter into an artery in your leg, groin, neck, or other areas.

If your cardiologist completes cardiac catheterization in combination with another heart procedure, he may put you under general anesthesia. He might:

• Inject dye through the catheter
• Take a tissue sample (biopsy)
• Repair a heart valve
• Open a narrowed artery using a stent
• Complete another heart procedure during catheterization

If you’re awake during catheterization, you might feel slight pressure during the procedure, but you shouldn’t feel pain. Your doctor might ask you to hold your breath, take deep breaths, cough, or move your arms during surgery.

What happens after cardiac catheterization?

After cardiac catheterization, you recover for several hours in a hospital recovery area while your anesthesia wears off. The length of your hospital stay depends on which procedure you had and how well you recover. You might go home the same day, the next day, or after several days.

Your doctor gives you at-home care instructions and lets you know when to schedule follow-up appointments. At the first sign of a heart problem, call Sunnyvale Cardiology today or use the online scheduler to book an appointment.