Cardiac Catheterization
Medical Center of South Arkansas doctors use cardiac catheterization to both diagnose and treat heart disease. This minimally invasive technique uses a catheter (thin, flexible tube) that is inserted into the arteries to examine the heart, arteries and veins with real-time images (fluoroscopy). These procedures only require a tiny incision where the catheter is inserted into an artery, so it results in less blood loss, less pain and a quicker recovery for patients.
Diagnostic Services
- Coronary intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) – Uses sound waves to see inside blood vessels.
- Coronary angiograms - Uses X-ray imaging to see your heart's blood vessels.
- Diagnostic angiography - An outpatient procedure used to examine the inside of arteries and veins to detect blockages or narrowing of the vessels. It can be used to measure blood pressure, blood flow and oxygen levels, as well as evaluate the heart's pumping ability and the health of the valves. Angiography is also used to collect biopsies and blood samples, and to evaluate other areas of the body.
- Tilt-table test - Used to evaluate the cause of unexplained fainting.
- Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) - Uses high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to make detailed pictures of your heart and the arteries.
Non-surgical Treatments for Heart Disease
- Cardioversion – Used to restore your heart’s regular rhythm.
- Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) – A procedural option that may be used instead of open heart bypass surgery to restore blood flow to arteries that are narrowed or blocked due to total occlusion of the artery.
- Coronary interventions:
- Balloon angioplasty and drug-eluting stents, bare-metal stents
- Thrombolysis or thrombolytic therapy used to dissolve clots in blood vessels
- Intra-aortic balloon pump
- Pacemaker implants
Some unique features of the lab include:
- High-resolution technology to deliver quality images
- 3-D renderings of the heart
- Decreased radiation exposure
- Improved visualization of stents in coronary arteries
- Instant 3-D imaging when integrated with 64 multi-slice CT scanner