Cardiac catheterization (heart cath) is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done both for diagnostic and interventional purposes. A common example of cardiac catheterization is coronary catheterization that involves catheterization of the coronary arteries for coronary artery disease and myocardial infarctions ("heart attacks"). Catheterization is most often performed in special laboratories with fluoroscopy and highly maneuverable tables. These "cath labs" are often equipped with cabinets of catheters, stents, balloons, etc. of various sizes to increase efficiency. Monitors show the fluoroscopy imaging, electrocardiogram (ECG), pressure waves, and more. Uses
Coronary angiography is a diagnostic procedure that allows visualization of the coronary vessels. Fluoroscopy is used to visualize the lumens of the arteries as a 2-D projection. Should these arteries show narrowing or blockage, then techniques exist to open these arteries. Percutaneous coronary intervention is a blanket term that involves the use of mechanical stents, balloons, etc. to increase blood flow to previously blocked (or occluded) vessels.Measuring pressures in the heart is also an important aspect of catheterization. The catheters are fluid filled conduits that can transmit pressures to outside the body to pressure transducers. This allows measuring pressure in any part of the heart that a catheter can be maneuvered into.Measuring blood flow is also possible through several methods. Most commonly, flows are estimated using the Fick principle and thermodilution.
Equipment
Much equipment is required for a facility to perform the numerous possible procedures for cardiac catheterization. General:
Catheters
Film or Digital Camera
Electrocardiography monitors
External defibrillator
Fluoroscopy
Pressure transducers
SheathsPercutaneous coronary intervention:
Coronary stents: bare-metal stent (BMS) and drug-eluting stent (DES)
Angioplasty balloons
Atherectomy lasers and rotational devices
Left atrial appendage occlusion devicesElectrophysiology:
Ablation catheters: radiofrequency (RF) and cryo
Pacemakers
Defibrillators

History
The history of cardiac catheterization dates back to Stephen Hales (1677-1761) and Claude Bernard (1813-1878), who both used it on animal models. Clinical application of cardiac catheterization begins with Dr. Werner Forssmann in 1929, who inserted a catheter into the vein of his own forearm, guided it fluoroscopically into his right atrium, and took an X-ray picture of it. However, even after this achievement, hospital administrators removed Forssmann from his position owing to his unorthodox methods. During World War II, André Frédéric Cournand, a physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, then Columbia-Bellevue, opened the first catheterization lab. In 1956, Forssmann and Cournand were co-recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of cardiac catheterization. Dr. Eugene A. Stead performed research in the 1940s, which paved the way for cardiac catheterization in the USA. References
External links
MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Cardiac catheterization
eMedicine: Cardiac Catheterization (Left Heart)