Angiography
An X-ray test used to detect and diagnose diseases of the blood vessels, such as weakening of the vessel walls and the narrowing or blocking of vessels, and to examine the chambers of the heart. The X-ray is taken after the vessels have been injected with a substance (dye) that allows them to be seen on film. The pictures that are obtained are called angiograms. Coronary angiography is done during a cardiac catheterization. (Also known as Angiocardiography, Angiogram and Arteriography.)
Atherectomy
A procedure to remove plaque from arteries. An ultra-thin wire is threaded through a special catheter into the blocked artery. Several devices may then be used. One is a high-speed rotating "burr" that grinds the plaque into very tiny pieces. Another is a small rotating cutter that "shaves off" pieces of the blockage. Still another is a laser catheter that vaporizes the plaque.
Stent Procedure
Using a wire mesh tube (a stent) to prop open an artery that's recently been cleared using angioplasty.
Ablation
Cardiac ablation is a therapeutic method in which a form of energy is used to physically destroy a small section of damaged heart tissue that is a source of abnormal electrical activity causing or contributing to some types of tachycardia (fast heartbeat). Most often, cardiac ablation is used to treat rapid heartbeats that begin in the upper chambers (atria) or in the atrioventricular (AV) node. Less often, ablation is used to treat heart rhythm disorders of the lower heart chambers (ventricles). It may be done through surgery or using a transcatheter approach with an electrode catheter (catheter ablation). Electrodes at the catheter tip are used to help identify the site of abnormal activity. The electrode then delivers either radiofrequency energy (RF ablation) or intense cold (cryoablation) to destroy the small section of tissue.
Cardiac Catheterization
A dye study of the heart arteries that is performed under x-ray guidance. This allows your physician to directly visualize the arteries to identify a narrowing, or "blockages" that represent cholesterol buildup under the surface of the artery. The results of the catheterization will allow your doctor to plan the next step in your treatment. For example: angioplasty, coronary bypass graft surgery or medical therapy.
Coronary Angioplasty
A procedure that relieves a blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries. It often involves placement of a stent, which is a sleeve of stainless steel mesh, designed to prop the artery open after it has been stretched by a balloon.
Intravascular Ultrasound
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a medical imaging methodology using a specially designed catheter with a miniaturized ultrasound probe attached to the distal end of the catheter. The proximal end of the catheter is attached to computerized ultrasound equipment. It allows the application of ultrasound technology to see from inside blood vessels out through the surrounding blood column, visualizing the endothelium (inner wall) of blood vessels in living individuals.IVUS is of use to determine both plaque volume within the wall of the artery and/or the degree of stenosis of the artery lumen.
Peripheral Angiogram
Peripheral angiograms are most commonly done to test the arteries which supply the blood to the head and neck or the abdomen and legs. Because arteries do not show up on ordinary x-rays, arteriograms utilize a contrast, which is injected into the arteries to make them visible on radiographs.
Transesophageal Echocardiogram
In this procedure, an ultrasound transducer is mounted on a long tube (probe) that is placed in the esophagus or food tube. Images are obtained by moving the probe within the esophagus and into the stomach. These images allow your doctor to evaluate your heart's muscle function, the severity of certain valve problems and to detect potential infection of the heart valves. Congenital heart problems, disease of the aorta and the presence of blood clots in your heart can also be detected. This test is done in a hospital and you are sedated.
 
 
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