High-Tech With a Tender Touch
Our cardiac catheterization team is highly experienced and offers a wide array of comprehensive diagnostic services right here in your community.
We are dedicated to expanding care and providing convenient, necessary services closer to home and within easy access for family and friends.
What is a Cardiac Catheterization?
Cardiac catheterizations, or heart caths, are minimally invasive, non-surgical procedures used to diagnose and treat a variety of heart conditions – like blood flow disorders or blockages.
During a cardiac catheterization, a long thin tube called a catheter is inserted into a small incision in the groin or arm and threaded through a vessel to the heart. Patients are given a local anesthetic and usually feel very little discomfort during the procedure.
The cardiac catheterization teams at Fairfield Medical Center are highly trained and perform hundreds of procedures each year. Some of the most common types of procedures include:
The placement of a pump designed to help a weakened heart pump blood more efficiently, usually in patients with severe congestive heart failure.
The placement of this pump is typically performed after an event that may temporarily leave the heart weakened or compromised, such as a heart attack or heart surgery. Once the heart recovers and is pumping blood more efficiently, this device is removed.
A diagnostic test used to check pulmonary pressure. This may be performed to diagnose congestive heart failure or pulmonary hypertension.
An intervention performed during a heart cath to treat or resolve a blockage in an artery. When a stent is placed, a small metal coil or mesh tube is placed within a damaged vessel to keep it open, allowing blood to flow more easily.
