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The Cath Lab

Coronary Artery DiseaseThe Cath LabFrom Diagnosis to InterventionBalloons & Stents
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(For more information about the latest imaging techniques, including catheterization and multislice CT angiography, also visit our new section on "Diagnosis and Imaging".)


tip of guiding catheter
Tip of hollow
coronary catheter
 
The Arterial "Highway"
The circulatory system is an intricate network of arteries and veins which connects the heart to every area of the body. Utilizing long, flexible, hollow tubes, called catheters, physicians have been able to transform this system into a "highway", and can use it to deliver specialized tools and medicines to diagnose and treat heart disease non-surgically.

The entrance to the arterial "highway" is through a needle puncture, usually made in the groin (femoral) artery, although the arm (brachial) or wrist (radial) can also be utilized.

The Catheterization Lab
Catheter-based procedures are performed in a special room in the hospital: the catheterization, or "cath", lab. The room is outfitted with high-resolution fluoroscopic (X-ray) video and film equipment.
 

cath lab
Doctor talks to patient in cath lab
  


During these procedures, the patient is given light sedation for comfort, but remains awake in order to respond to various instructions ("take a deep breath", "hold your breath", "cough", etc.) from the interventional cardiologist who is part operator, part diagnostician, part photographer.
The first step is a diagnostic picture of the arteries, called a coronary arteriogram, angiogram or catheterization. The needle puncture is made, using a local anesthetic. The physician then threads a catheter through the entry site and follows the main artery in the body, called the aorta, up and around into the opening of the left, or right, coronary artery.

Through this hollow catheter, the physician injects a small amount of special dye, called contrast, which, when viewed in motion under X-rays, reveals any obstructions or plaques located within the coronary vessels. When the dye is injected, the patient may feel a warm sensation. Views from several camera angles are are recorded on motion picture film.
( See a video clip about the "accidental" discovery of coronary arteriography. )
  

actual fluoroscopic image of blocked artery
fluoro of blocked LAD
drawing of blockage artist's rendering of same
blocked artery

Next Section: "From Diagnosis to Intervention"

 

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