Table of Contents
- Overview
- Results
- Risks
- Prevention
- Images
Left heart catheterization is the passage of a thin flexible tube (catheter) into the left side of the heart to diagnose or treat certain heart problems.
Alternative Names
Catheterization - left heart
How the test is performed
You may be given a mild sedative before the procedure starts. The health care provider will place an IV into your arm so that you can receive medication during the procedure.
You will lie on a padded table. Your doctor will make a small surgical cut on your body, usually near the groin. Then your doctor will insert a flexible tube (catheter) through the cut into an artery. Sometimes the catheter will be placed in your arm or wrist. You will be awake during the procedure.
The doctor will use live x-ray pictures to carefully guide the catheter up into your heart and arteries. Dye will be injected into your body to highlight blood flow through the arteries. This helps the doctors see any blockages in the blood vessels that lead to your heart.
The catheter is carefully threaded into the left side of your heart. When the catheter is in place, a contrast material ("dye") is injected through the tube. This helps the doctor get a clearer view of the structures in the heart.
The procedure may last from less than 1 hour to several hours.
How to prepare for the test
Review Date: 07/10/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine; and Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Assistant
Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical
Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle,
Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
