Cardiac Catheterisation
Before you tie yourself all up in knots about cardiac catheterisation not being cardiothoracic surgery pause here and appreciate the contribution that this field has made. One can easily assume cardiac catherisation to mean angiogram and angioplasty, but it goes beyond these. It involves catheterisation of either the right or left side of the heart. The left side catheterisation is used
Cardiac Catheterisation allows:
1. Assessment of the Coronary arteries - visual assessment to see where the stenoses and/or occlusions are prior to surgery.
2. Assessment of the Valves. For example the pressure gradient across the aortic valve to determine severity in aortic stenosis.
3. Assessment of the cardiac chambers, very commonly the left ventricle prior to surgery.
4. Assess and monitor cardiac output and other indices defore, during and after surgery.
On that note let's consider some of the history of cardiac catherisation:
· William Forssmann, in 1929, carried out the first heart catheterization – on himself – and won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work, in 1956. It was done via his right brachial vein.
Yes it is invasive and yes, it does have risks. This risks include bleeding, allergic reaction to contrast, arrhythmias, injury to the blood vessels and heart.