Cardiac catheterization and angiography

Abstract

Cardiac catheterization is an invasive investigation which offers the benefit of a diagnostic certainty in congenital heart disease with, some of which having a great deal of complexity. The investigation may also be useful in some cases of complicated valvular diseases, as well as in making differential diagnosis of some myocardial or pericardial lesions. Using this invasive procedure, pressures and oximetries in the heart cavities and great vessels are recorded, thus determining transvalvular gradients, cardiac shunts and the severity of pulmonary hypertension. Cardiac angiography brings extra data about the anatomy of the heart and vessels, allowing accurate diagnostics. Although there are major progresses in imaging performing echocardiographic exams, cardiac catheterization is still the "gold standard" in complex congenital heart diseases for determining sequential gradients, bidirectional cardiac shunts, as well as stenosis of the peripheral branches of the pulmonary artery. Last but not least, it should be mentioned the major advantage that this invasive procedure has, it offers the possibility to solve some cardiac malformations (septal defects, valvular/ vascular stenosis, etc.) in the same intervention.