Interventional cardiology
Interventional cardiology is a branch of medicine which treats cardiovascular disorders without surgery.Catheterization, a technique in which a catheter is introduced into a canal or natural opening of the body, enables interventions to be carried out less invasively than would be possible with surgery.
Interventional cardiology initially facilitates diagnosis. The specialist performs coronary angiograms (X-rays of the arteries which carry oxygenated blood to the heart muscle) and ventriculograms (X-ray exploration of the ventricle – the pumping chamber of the heart – using an injected contrast medium which is opaque to X-rays).
Once diagnostic imaging has been completed, the cardiologist can perform angioplasty. A balloon catheter is introduced into the femoral artery and then guided through the blocked coronary blood vessel to re-establish the flow of blood. This intervention is nearly always followed by implantation of a stent, a small device inserted into an obstructed coronary artery to keep it open.
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