A catheterization laboratory or cath lab is an examination room in a hospital with diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualize the arteries and the chambers of the heart and treat any stenosis or abnormality found.
A catheter is inserted through the skin into an artery, then is threaded through the body's arterial highway to the heart, where a special dye is injected into the coronary arteries to reveal any possible blockages.
A diagnostic procedure to obtain a myocardial tissue sample from the ventricle of the heart aid in the detection of a disease process (i.e., myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, etc.) or to monitor rejection after heart transplant.
A catheter with a balloon on its tip is passed through to a coronary blockage. The balloon is inflated, splitting the plaque and stretching the wall of the coronary vessel to allow more blood flow to the heart muscle.
PCI is a non-surgical procedure that uses catheters and tiny wires to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary artery diseases. It offers an alternative to bypass surgery and a treatment option for people with angina who have no other options.
A wire mesh device made out of nickel and titanium (Nitinol) and filled with a polyester thread is used to non-surgically close defects in the atrial septum (the wall between the two top chambers of the heart). A patent foramen ovale and atrial septal defect are two of the common defects that are closed with this technique.
A stent is a small, metal mesh tube is placed within a coronary artery after balloon angioplasty to prevent artery from reclosing. If artery is noted to have loose debris within it, there are various type of catheters designed to remove the debris from within the artery prior to either angioplasty or stenting.
Coronary Angiogram
Coronary Angioplasty
Peripheral Angiogram
Peripheral Angioplasty
Cardiac Catherization Study
Device Closure For ASD, VSD, PDA
Temporary Pacemaker Implantation
Permanenent Pacemaker Implantation
Pericardiocentesis
Enoomyocardial Biopsy