Interventional cardiology

Interventional cardiology is a branch of the medical specialty of cardiology that deals specifically with the catheter based treatment of structural heart diseases.

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A large number of procedures can be performed on the heart by catheterization. This most commonly involves the insertion of a sheath into the femoral artery (but, in practice, any large peripheral artery or vein) and cannulating the heart under X-ray visualization (most commonly fluoroscopy, a real-time x-ray).

Procedures performed by specialists in interventional cardiology:

Angioplasty (PTCA, Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty) - for coronary atherosclerosis
Valvuloplasty - dilation of narrowed cardiac valves (usually mitral, aortic or pulmonary)
Procedures for congenital heart disease - insertion of occluders for ventricular or atrial septal defects, occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus, angioplasty of great vessels
Emergency angioplasty and stenting of occluded coronary vessels in the setting of acute myocardial infarction

Invasive procedures of the heart to treat arrhythmias are performed by specialists in clinical cardiac electrophysiology

Surgery of the heart is done by the specialty of cardiothoracic surgery. Some interventional cardiology procedures are only performed when there is cardiothoracic surgery expertise in the hospital, in case of complications.