Cardiac Catheterization

With a $3 million investment in the addition of Milford Regional’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab, we are able to offer the “gold standard” against which all other cardiac diagnostic tests are measured. This diagnostic technology offers the clearest look at the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. It is used to evaluate the pumping ability of the heart, the functioning of the heart valves, and to measure pressures within the heart. It helps to diagnose the location and severity of blockages, narrowing of the arteries, coronary artery disease, defective heart valves, congenital heart defects and disease of the heart muscle.

While under conscious sedation, a thin, hollow, flexible tube (a catheter) is inserted into the patient. With the traditional method, the tube is inserted through the femoral artery in the groin. We now offer a new technique called transradial artery catheterization – where the tube is inserted in the patient’s wrist. With both methods, under X-ray visualization, the tip of the catheter is guided to the heart. Pressures are measured and an X-ray Angiogram (Angio) movie of the heart and blood vessels are obtained while injecting a colorless “dye” or contrast material through the catheter.

Currently, 75 – 85% of patients who need a catheterization are eligible for the transradial approach. The quality of the images produced by both types of catheterizations are identical, but the benefits of using the radial artery far outweigh the femoral site. Although the femoral cath is extremely safe, access through the radial artery has even less risk. It is also much easier and safer to seal the radial artery after the procedure is over, and recovery time is much faster and more comfortable for the patient.

Some patients may not be candidates for the transradial catheterization. If a patient’s radial artery is not healthy, large, or open enough, it may not withstand the catheter. Some patients who have undergone bypass surgery or have had a recent procedure accessed through this artery may prevent the use of the transradial cath as well.

Cardiac catheterization brings the gold standard of care in cardiac diagnostics to Milford Regional.