Left heart catheterization

You may be given a mild medicine (sedative) before the procedure starts. The medicine is to help you relax. The health care provider will place an IV into your arm to give medicines. You will lie on a padded table. Your doctor (most often a heart specialist called a cardiologist) will make a small puncture on your…

In most cases, you should not eat or drink for 8 hours before the test. (your cardiologist may give you different directions.) The procedure will take place in the hospital. You may be admitted the night before the test, but it is more common to come to the hospital the morning of the procedure. In some cases, this…

The sedative will help you relax before the procedure. However, you will be awake and able to follow instructions during the test. You will be given local numbing medicine (anesthesia) before the catheter is inserted. You will feel some pressure as the catheter is inserted. However, you should not feel any pain. You…

The procedure is done to look for: Cardiac valve disease Cardiac tumors Heart defects (such as ventricular septal defects ) Problems with heart function The procedure may also be done to evaluate and possibly repair certain types of heart defects, or to open a narrowed heart valve. When this procedure is done with…

A normal result means the heart is normal in: Size Motion Thickness Pressure The normal result also means arteries are normal.

Abnormal results may be a sign of cardiac disease or heart defects, including: Aortic insufficiency Aortic stenosis Coronary artery disease Heart enlargement Mitral regurgitation Mitral stenosis Ventricular aneurysms Atrial septal defect Ventricular septal defect Heart failure Cardiomyopathy

Complications may include: Cardiac arrhythmias Cardiac tamponade Embolism from blood clots at the tip of the catheter to the brain or other organs Heart attack Injury to the artery Infection Kidney damage from contrast (dye) Low blood pressure Reaction to the contrast material Stroke

Dengas GD, Mehran R. Coronary angiography and intravascular imaging. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Tomaselli GF, Bhatt DL, Solomon SD, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine . 12th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 21. Kern MJ, Seto AH, Hermann J. Invasive hemodynamic diagnosis…