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Reviewing symptoms, measuring heart activity, and going over your medical history — these are all great methods for assessing your cardiovascular health, but they don’t paint the whole picture. Sometimes, we need a better idea about how your heart and blood vessels are functioning, which is where a cardiac catheterization comes in.
Cardiac catheterization is a real workhorse at Upper East Side Cardiology, and board-certified cardiologist Dr. Satjit Bhusri and the team routinely use it for both diagnostic information and treatment.
If we have you scheduled for a cardiac catheterization, here’s what you should know.
Cardiac catheterization — a multi-purpose procedure
Let’s start with some background on cardiac catheterization in terms of what it can accomplish. During this procedure, Dr. Bhusri inserts a catheter, which is a small tube, into one of your blood vessels and pushes it through to your heart.
Using fluoroscopy (live X-ray), we can visually follow the catheter to assess certain areas of your cardiovascular health, including:
- Collecting tissue or blood for a biopsy
- Measuring the pressure in your heart chambers
- Determining the source of chest pain
- Diagnosing arrhythmias, which affect up to 5% of the general population
- Diagnosing coronary artery disease, which affects one in 20 people aged 20 or older
- Checking your pulmonary arteries
- Checking blood flow
Though these are all diagnostic duties, we can also perform valve replacements during a cardiac catheterization or open an artery with a stent.
Preparing for your cardiac catheterization
On the day of your cardiac catheterization, we want you to follow our instructions about eating and drinking beforehand, as well as any medication changes we make. In most cases, we ask people not to eat or drink for six to eight hours before the procedure.
We suggest that you wear comfortable clothes and leave all your valuables at home. And we also recommend not applying any moisturizers to your skin, which can interfere with electrodes if we need to use them.
During your cardiac catheterization
When you arrive, we’ll get you set up in the treatment room and administer a local anesthetic and/or light sedation to make you more comfortable. We will also clean and shave the area where we insert the catheter — either in your thigh, your neck, under your collarbone, or in your arm.
Once you’re ready, Dr. Bhusri inserts the catheter and uses a live X-ray to push the catheter through the blood vessel. We may also use some contrast dye, which we administer intravenously.
In most cases, a cardiac catheterization lasts about an hour. The procedure can last longer if Dr. Bhusri is performing any procedures, such as placing a stent to open your artery.
After your cardiac catheterization
Once Dr. Bhusri removes the catheter, we monitor your heart rate and blood pressure to make sure everything is functioning well before you can leave.
If we’ve performed a procedure during your cardiac catheterization, such as replacing a valve, you’ll likely have to spend the night in the hospital so we can keep a close eye on you.
If your cardiac catheterization is diagnostic, you can usually go home the same day, with little downtime.
Rest assured, we go over all of this in more detail in person, and we’re here to answer any questions you might have before your cardiac catheterization.
To speak with a team member, you can call our New York City office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at 212-752-3464. You can also request information online by clicking here.