Cardiac Catheterization

Cardiac Catheterization at UVM Health

Cardiac catheterization is a procedure in which heart specialists use a small, hollow tube (catheter) to access your heart muscle, valves and blood vessels and diagnose heart conditions or provide treatment.

At University of Vermont Health, specialized heart and vascular experts use the latest technology in cardiac catheterization to obtain high-quality, detailed images of your heart that help us deliver effective treatment.

Two medical providers to look at heart and vascular imaging.

Why Choose UVM Health?

As one of the leading heart and vascular programs in the region, we offer:

Advanced technology: We are the only health system within Vermont performing cardiac surgery, cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty).
Coordinated care: Our network of heart and vascular specialists means you’re always connected to a comprehensive care team that includes surgeons, electrophysiologists, our ECMO team and other specialists. If you need more advanced treatments, we coordinate referrals quickly and efficiently.
Groundbreaking treatments: We were one of the first in the U.S. to use cardiac catheterization to treat patients with intracoronary gene therapy, an innovative treatment for coronary artery disease. Our team was also involved in the pivotal CoreValve trials to treat aortic valve disease.
Excellent outcomes: Our door-to-balloon times, the time from when a heart attack patient arrives in the emergency room until we clear the blocked artery, are among the best in the country.

Conditions We Treat

We may use cardiac catheterization as a diagnostic tool or a treatment. It can be used for a range of conditions, including:

Abnormal cardiac output: When the heart doesn’t pump as much blood as it should or pumps too much blood
Congenital heart disease: One or more problems with the heart’s structures that are present at birth
Coronary artery disease: Blockages or narrowing in the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood (coronary arteries)
Heart attack: A sudden, emergency blockage of blood flow to the heart
Heart failure: When the heart doesn’t pump blood to the rest of the body as efficiently as it should
Heart valve disease: Problems with the valves that open and close to keep blood flowing through the heart, such as heart valve leaking (regurgitation) or narrowing (stenosis)
Myocarditis: Inflammation in the heart muscle
Pulmonary hypertension: Elevated pressure in the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the lungs

What to Expect During Cardiac Catheterization

During a cardiac catheterization, your provider:

Inserts a catheter through one of your blood vessels
Guides the catheter to your heart
Places instruments through the catheter to view your blood vessels, take blood samples, remove a piece of tissue or measure pressure in your heart chambers

Types of Cardiac Catheterization

Your provider may also use cardiac catheterization to perform procedures such as:

Coronary angiogram: Your provider injects a contrast dye through the catheter. The contrast dye highlights your heart and blood vessels so they’re easy to see on an X-ray.
Coronary angioplasty or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI): Your provider uses catheter techniques to clear a blocked or narrowed artery.
Heart tissue biopsy: Your provider uses catheter techniques to remove a small sample of heart tissue for analysis.
Valve replacement and valve repair: Your provider uses catheter techniques to open a narrowed heart valve or treat a leaky heart valve.
Treatment of congenital heart disease: Your provider uses catheter techniques to repair heart wall defects or abnormal vascular connections caused by patent foramen ovale (PFO), atrial septal defect (ASD), ventricular septal defect (VSD) or patent ductus arteriosis (PDA).