A cardiac catheterization is used to determine blood flow and pressure to the heart's chambers, to examine the arteries of the heart and to collect samples from the heart. This procedure helps in the diagnosis of heart conditions including coronary artery disease, defective heart valves and congenital heart defects and reveals information about how well the heart is pumping.

You are a candidate for cardiac catheterization if you experience chest pain, have an abnormal treadmill stress test, disease of the valves of the heart, acute myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy or heart failure.

Since cardiac catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure, complications are rare. Your physician will discuss any potential risks with you as well as answering your questions and concerns.

The physician will discuss the results of the cardiac catheterization with you and your support person(s). These results fall into one four categories: completely normal, medical management, interventional therapy required or open heart surgery.

Coronary angioplasty and open-heart surgery are both performed at our Heart Institute.