Cardiac catheterization (heart cath) is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart.

A small incision is made in a vessel in the groin, wrist or neck area (the femoral vessels or the carotid/jugular vessels), then a guidewire is inserted into the incision and threaded through the vessel into the area of the heart that requires treatment, visualized by fluoroscopy or echocardiogram, and a catheter is then threaded over the guidewire. When the necessary procedures are complete, the catheter is removed followed by the guidewire. Occasionally the incision requires a suture or two, but more often just requires a few minutes of pressure with a clean dressing to stop bleeding.

A cardiac catheterization is a general term for a group of procedures that are performed using this method, such as coronary angiography. Once the catheter is in place, it can be used to perform a number of procedures including angioplasty, angiography, and balloon septostomy.

The history of cardiac catheterization dates back to Claude Bernard (1813-1878), who used it on animal models. Clinical application of cardiac catheterization begins with Werner Forssmann in the 1930s, who inserted a catheter into the vein of his own forearm, guided it fluoroscopically into his right atrium, and took an X-ray picture of it. Forssmann won the Nobel Prize for this achievement.

Cardiology | Medical tests

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