The Cardiac Catheterization Suites at Brooksville Regional Hospital play a key role in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.  Before the development of this important imaging technology, the only way for physicians to confirm coronary artery disease was if a patient actually suffered a heart attack.  Today, diagnostic catheterization allows a cardiologist to visualize the degree and location of blockages in coronary arteries and determine the most appropriate treatment option.

Our Interventional Cardiologists can treat blockages by opening a blocked artery with balloon angioplasty and stenting, if needed. Our Cardiac Catheterization Suites are staffed with highly trained and qualified professionals that stay with you during the procedure and monitor your recovery after the procedure. 

Cardiac Catheterization  

What Is Cardiac Catheterization?
Cardiac catheterization is the most thorough test available to determine how well the heart and its arteries are working.

By taking advantage of this relatively easy access to the inner workings of the heart, a physician can locate blockages or narrowing within the coronary arteries, and can see whether heart valves are opening and closing properly.

In this procedure, a specially-trained cardiologist inserts a catheter (a long, flexible tube) into an artery (usually in the groin or wrist) and guides it to the heart. From there, dye is injected and the doctor can view the heart’s image on a monitor in real time. Our catheterization lab is unique in that the same staff members follow a patient from pre-admission testing to procedure, recovery and then discharge.

Why Is Cardiac Catheterization Done?
• Often a doctor does a cardiac catheterization to find out why a patient is having chest pain. The procedure can reveal blocked or narrowed places in the heart’s arteries that can cause this pain.
• Doctors often do cardiac catheterizations after patients have heart attacks. The procedure can tell them if there are blocked arteries that can be treated with angioplasty or surgery.
• Another reason doctors may do cardiac catheterizations is to see the overall shape of the heart and its chambers.
• Doctors may use it to see heart abnormalities resulting from birth defects in children or adults.
• Sometimes doctors perform cardiac catheterizations to see how well the tissue flaps (valves) at the openings and exits of the heart chambers are working. To do this, the doctor will measure blood flow and oxygen levels in different parts of the heart. Cardiac catheterizations are also done to check the functioning of artificial heart valves.

During cardiac catheterization, a doctor may open up the blocked arteries by doing another procedure called PTCA or may be able to insert a stent which holds open the narrowed artery.

PTCA (Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty)
The coronary arteries carry oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the heart muscle. They can become narrowed or blocked due to build-up of fat and cholesterol, called plaque deposits. The deposits can result in chest pain, heart attacks and other serious heart problems.

Angioplasty is a procedure in which interventional cardiologists use a small balloon to open clogged arteries in the heart by compressing the plaque deposits against the wall of the artery, creating a wider channel for blood to flow through.  Angioplasty can improve some of the symptoms of blocked arteries, such as chest pain and shortness of breath. Angioplasty can also be used during a heart attack to quickly open a blocked artery and reduce the amount of damage to your heart.

One of the important quality measures used by the American College of Cardiology and Agency for Health Care Administration is door-to-device time, which measures the time between when a heart attack patient enters the hospital and when a balloon-type device crosses the blockage in the artery. Brooksville Regional Hospital meets or exceeds the 90 minute recommended time and greatly exceeds the national average of 120 minutes.

This means that most patients who arrive at Brooksville Regional Hopsital who are experiencing a heart event receive a life-saving procedure faster than in many hospitals around the country.

Stenting
Angioplasty is often combined with the placement of a small slotted metal tube called a stent in the clogged artery to help prop the artery open and decrease the chance of it narrowing again (restenosis). Some stents are coated with medication to help keep your artery open (drug-eluting stents) while others are not (bare-metal stents).

The stent is attached to a balloon catheter for placement, and is actually pushed past the area of blockage. Then, the balloon is expanded, making the stent grow wider. Your doctor will take x-rays to determine that the stent is placed correctly, the balloon catheter will be deflated and removed, and the stent will stay in place.  Eventually, your cells will grow over the stent and it will become a part of your artery.

If you would like to find a cardiologist or other cardiac specialists, please click here.  

Heart Attack Warning Signs

Our cardiac catheterization lab can provide fast, quality care as soon as patients arrive, so help us help you by calling 9-1-1 immediately if you or a loved one experiences the following:
 

• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness or squeezing pain in the center of the chest, lasting more than a few minutes.
• Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arms. Lightheadedness, fainting, sweating or shortness of breath, along with chest pain
• Stomach or abdominal pain with chest pain
• Nausea or dizziness and chest pain. Unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue
• Palpitations, cold sweat or paleness accompanied by chest pain