Cardiac Catheterization Lab
Memorial Heart & Vascular Institute’s Cardiac CatheterizationLaboratory is a state-of-the-art facility offering sophisticated digital imaging equipment and electrophysiological mapping systems. Every year, we perform more than 3,000 cardiac catheterization procedures in our four catheterization labs.
In 1958, the first cardiac catheterization laboratory was established at Long Beach Memorial (then Seaside Hospital). In 1979, we performed our first angioplasty. Today, we continue to provide groundbreaking and sophisticated cardiovascular and endovascular procedures as part of our multidisciplinary approach.
About Cardiac Catheterization
Cardiac catheterization is a method doctors use to perform many tests and procedures available for diagnosing and treating coronary artery disease. During cardiac catheterization, a doctor inserts a thin plastic tube—called a catheter—into an artery or vein in the arm or leg. From there, it can be advanced into the chambers of the heart or into the coronary arteries. Catheterization also is performed on infants and children to examine or treat congenital heart defects.
Catheters also are used to inject contrast (dye) into the coronary arteries. This is called coronary angiography. Catheters with a balloon on the tip are used in the procedure called percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), a procedure that our cardiologists were the first in Southern California to pioneer.
Over the last decade, angioplasty has evolved to also include coronary stenting as part of the procedure. A stent is a small, lattice-shaped, metal tube that is inserted permanently into an artery. The stent helps hold open an artery so that blood can flow through and remains in place to help keep the artery open. This procedure is often done in conjunction with balloon angioplasty. A recent development in stenting is that they are sometimes coated with a drug to prevent re-stenosis (narrowing of the artery).
Other studies include electrophysiology studies, where physicians use electrical impulses to measure heartbeats and determine proper treatment for arrhythmias. Patients requiring treatment may elect to undergo catheter ablation, a non-surgical technique used to pinpoint and interrupt specific arrhythmias. The patient’s location and type of arrhythmia helps physicians determine if catheter ablation is a treatment option. In many cases, this option is preferable to the side effects of many medications. The ablation is performed by creating a lesion or scar in the location of the electrical cells that are causing the arrhythmia.
At MHVI, the various procedures mentioned above are done under either outpatient or inpatient conditions in one of our four state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization Labs. Each lab is equipped with high-resolution fluoroscopic (x-ray) video and film equipment, a heart monitor to record blood pressure and heart rate and TV monitors used to guide the catheter into the heart. At Memorial Heart & Vascular Institute, our physicians, surgeons and staff are here to help you regain control of your cardiovascular health.
