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SCSMC is pleased to announce the opening of our new upgraded Cardiac Catherization Lab. This unit provides a private and comfortable procedure room and recovery area where specially trained Registered Nurses will monitor your care. With cutting edge technology and advanced equipment from GE Medical Systems, the imaging and flexibility of this new system is the finest in the industry. To capture these images permanently, a program called, Heartlab Cardiac Solutions was purchased to work in confluence with GE Medical Systems. This archive system can store over 72,000 images utilizing their deep archive processes. It can also manipulate images for cardiologists, offering better flexibility in viewing. This system also has the ability to create CDs with the patient's imaging results, which can be utilized for consultation, second opinions or for your physician's use.
The information gained from cardiac catheterization can be used to determine whether surgery or another type of procedure is needed to open blocked blood vessels. Cardiac catheterization is a test used to evaluate the heart and coronary arteries. A special dye is usually injected into the coronary arteries to trace the movement of blood through the arteries. The portion of the test involving the injection of the dye and tracing the blood is called coronary angiography. To perform cardiac catheterization, a thin flexible tube called a catheter, is threaded through a blood vessel in the arm or groin and into your heart. Through the catheter, your doctor can measure pressures, take blood samples, and inject contrast material into the coronary arteries or chambers of the heart. The doctor watches movement of the dye through your heart's chambers and blood vessels to see whether the coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked. Arteries can become narrowed when fat (cholesterol) and calcium build up inside the lining, forming a substance called plaque.
The purpose of cardiac catheterization is to pinpoint the size and location of plaque that may have built up in your coronary arteries. This is generally done to determine the future course of treatment best suited for each particular patient.
Echocardiography is another procedure performed and is a non-invasive examination of your heart by sound waves. Cardiologists can visualize parts of the heart and can assess, to a certain degree if these are normal or abnormal. All units are capable of Doppler and Color Flow evaluations as well as the latest procedure of Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE).
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