Interventional Cardiology

Interventional cardiology at Summit Medical Group uses state-of-the-art nonsurgical procedures to treat cardiovascular disease, valve disease, and peripheral vascular disease. Interventional cardiology procedures require the insertion of a thin, flexible tube (or catheter) to diagnose narrowed or blocked arteries and open narrowed vessels with balloons and stents.

Some of the procedures include: 

• Diagnostic cardiac catheterization and angiography
• Angioplasty for coronary atherosclerosis
• Cutting balloon angioplasty
• Coronary stenting to open narrowed or blocked coronary vessels
• Coronary thrombectomy to remove blood clots from blood vessels
• Directional and rotational atherectomy
• Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) 

What to Expect

Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization
Cardiac catheterization is used to examine the health of the coronary arteries and confirm that the heart valves are functioning properly. It also can be used to identify the size and location of plaque in the arteries and assess the strength of the heart muscle.

For cardiac catheterization, a catheter is inserted through a blood vessel in the arm or groin and guided to the heart. Once the catheter is in place, the cardiologist can measure blood pressure, take blood samples, and inject a dye into your coronary arteries or other vessels to evaluate how well blood flows through the arteries and heart chambers. The dye allows the cardiologist to easily see how blood flows through the vessels and determine whether the arteries are narrowed or blocked and if the valves are working properly. This procedure is commonly used to determine whether a patient needs angioplasty, catheter-based valve repair, a bypass, or valve surgery.

Angioplasty and Stenting
For angioplasty or stenting, a long, thin, flexible tube is inserted through a blood vessel in the leg. The interventional cardiologist will then guide it through the vessel to the heart where there is a narrowed or blocked vessel. A small balloon will then be inflated at the tip of the catheter to open the artery and restore blood flow to the heart.

Many patients who have angioplasty also will receive a small metal mesh cylinder called a stent, which helps keep the vessel open once the balloon is removed. After the stent is in place, a dye is injected through the arteries so that the cardiologist can see how well the blood flows through the newly opened vessel.

Drug-coated (or drug-eluting) stents are used in some patients to prevent scarring or repeated narrowing/blocking (restenosis) of the artery during the first few weeks after the stent has been inserted. Drug-eluting stents release medication that lowers a patient’s risk of needing another procedure to reopen the artery. Bare-metal stents, which have no drug coating, are used in some patients.

Atherectomy
During atherectomy, interventional cardiologists use devices with tiny blades to cut away plaque from the insides of blood vessels and restore blood flow.

Embolic Protection
Some patients who are being treated for narrowed or blocked arteries are at risk of having plaque break off, travel through their blood vessels, and cause damage elsewhere in the body. To prevent this unwanted effect, cardiologists sometimes use filters or other special devices to collect the plaque so that it can safely be removed.