Cardiac catheterization lab & electrophysiology services
Cardiovascular lab
Cardiovascular short stay
Diagnostic procedures
Interventional procedures
Heart catheterization
Angioplasty
About your heart
Cardiovascular lab
Physicians and staff in the cardiac catheterization labs at Mercy Hospital perform a full range of diagnostic procedures to evaluate patients with heart
disease and peripheral vascular disease.
In addition, electrophysiology studies, a subspecialty of cardiology,
diagnose and treat electrical disturbances
and life-threatening heart rhythms.
 Interventional cardiology procedures at Mercy
Hospital use the latest technology to open blocked coronary arteries. The latest technology is also used to seal or close certain types of holes within the heart.
The cardiovascular laboratory at Mercy Hospital offers a full range of cardiac peripheral vascular and electrophysiology procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases.
The cardiovascular lab staff is comprised of specially-trained nurses, cardiovascular and radiology technologists who work closely with the physicians to provide care and assistance during procedures.
Cardiovascular short stay (CVSS)
The Cardiovascular Short Stay unit provides care for individuals having a CV and electrophysiology lab procedures. It also provides nursing support for individuals needing an external cardioversion procedure, transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), echocardiograms requiring contrast injections and Tilt studies.
What to expect during your stay in the cath lab
After being prepared for your procedure on Cardiovascular Short Stay, you will be brought into the Cardiovascular or Electrophysiology Lab procedure room. The staff will introduce themselves and explain what you can expect to occur during the time you are there.
Most procedures last about an hour, but some are longer depending on the type and number of procedures. You will need to lie down on a narrow table during the procedure. The table is narrow to allow the camera to get close enough for the best photos. The staff will help you get comfortable by offering arm rests, pillows and medication if needed. Warm blankets will also be offered to you since the procedure rooms are kept cool to allow proper functioning of the computers, monitors and photo equipment.
Your family members may wait in the cardiovascular waiting room while your procedure is done, and they will be updated of your status by our staff.
Once you are comfortable, the staff will begin preparing you for the procedure. Your groin area will be cleaned with an antiseptic solution. The staff will then cover you with a sterile drape from your chin past your toes. This will make your lap a sterile area for the cardiologist and scrub assistant.
You will be awake during the procedure because you need to tell us if you are comfortable, feel ill or if you need something. The lights will go off in the room when we are ready to take pictures. A darkened room helps the cardiologist and staff better see the pictures being taken.
We may ask you to take deep breaths or to hold your breath as pictures are taken. You will be given a picture of your procedure to take home with you. After the procedure, you will be taken back to cardiovascular short stay for observation and recovery.
Diagnostic procedures
Cardiac catheterization is used to diagnose heart conditions such as coronary artery disease, diseases of the electrical conduction system and diseases of the heart valves and the heart muscle.
During the procedure, specific types of catheters can be inserted through a small incision in the groin or arm and advanced through the blood vessels until they reach the heart. Depending on the type of procedure being done, the catheter can be used to place dye in the coronary arteries to detect blockages, to place dye in the left ventricle to determine how well the heart is pumping and how well the valves are working, and to obtain electrical recordings of the heart beat.
Cardiac diagnostic procedures include:
- Coronary angiogram
- Left ventriculogram
- Right heart catheterization
- Left heart catheterization
- Myocardial biopsy
- Electrophysiology studies
- Intracardiac mapping
- Intravascular ultrasound
- Doppler Flow Reserve
Peripheral vascular diagnostic procedures, angiograms, intravascular ultrasound and Doppler Flow Reserve are performed to diagnose diseases in the arteries in the abdomen and extremities. Special catheters are inserted into blood vessels in the abdomen or extremities to place dye which can detect blockages in those areas. The Mercy vascular laboratories and staff perform a full range of diagnostic peripheral vascular procedures.
Interventional procedures
Coronary interventional procedures
Cardiac catheterization is used to treat coronary artery disease, some heart valve disease, specific types of congenital holes in the heart and can offer an alternative to open heart surgery for some patients. Coronary interventional procedures available at Mercy Hospital include:
- Balloon angioplasty (view
animation*)
- Laser angioplasty
- Coronary stents
- Atherectomy - rotational and direct coronary
- Thrombectomy
- Valvuloplasty of heart valves
- PFO closure (patent foramen ovale)
- ASD closure (atrial septal defect)
Electrophysiology interventional procedures
Diseases of the heart's electrical conduction system can be treated using catheters placed in the heart. These procedures are performed at Mercy:
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Internal and external cardioversion
- Pacemaker implants (view animation*)
- Implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD)
- Bi-ventricular device implants
- Cardiac event recorder implants
* Flash player required
Peripheral vascular interventional procedures
Blockages in the arteries in the abdomen and extremities can also be treated using special catheters to open up the blockages. These procedures include:
- Balloon angioplasty
- Stents
- Atherectomy
- Laser
- Thrombectomy
- Thrombolysis
- Intravascular ultrasound
More on interventional procedures
Heart catheterization
A heart catheterization (or angiogram) lets your doctor see how well your heart
is working. Your doctor will be able to look at your heart muscle, valves and
coronary arteries. This test is done with a catheter (a small, thin tube) which
your doctor inserts through an artery or vein in your arm or leg. A special X-ray
monitor allows the doctor to watch the contrast dye flowing through the heart vessels to
determine if there are areas of narrowing.
Before the procedure
- For a morning test, you may not eat or drink anything after midnight.
- For an afternoon test, you may have clear liquids for breakfast. Your cardiologist
may want you to take your medicine with a little water.
- If you are diabetic, remind your cardiologist of your diet, medicine or
insulin needs.
- If you have an allergy to the contrast dye, tell your cardiologist or nurse.
- At the hospital, you will sign a consent form and wear a hospital gown.
- Your arm and/or groin area will be cleaned and shaved if needed.
- A nurse will start an intravenous (IV) line for medicine during the test.
- You may receive medicine to relax you.
During the procedure
- Your arm and/or groin will be cleaned again, your blood pressure will be
taken, and you will be put on a heart monitor. This monitor lets the cardiac
technician watch your heart rate and blood pressure during the test.
- Your cardiologist will inject a local anesthetic (to numb the area) where
the catheter will be placed. This may sting.
- You may feel slight pressure as the catheter goes in.
- Once the catheter is in place, your doctor will take pictures of your heart.
You may be asked to hold your breath or to cough. You may feel a brief (two-30
seconds) "hot flash" when dye is injected into your left ventricle.
When more information is needed, especially when the doctor suspects a heart
valve problem, the right side of the heart is examined.
- After the test, the catheter will be taken out and pressure held directly
on the site until bleeding stops.
- The procedure may take an hour or more.
After the procedure
- Nurses will check your pulse, blood pressure and insertion site.
- You will stay flat in bed for as long as ordered by your doctor.
- You will be able to eat and drink as soon as you like. You may want to drink
extra fluids to get the contrast dye out of your body. You will not see any change
in the color of your urine.
- The results will be discussed with your primary doctor.
When to call your nurse
Call your nurse if you:
- See bleeding at the catheter insertion site
- Feel tingling or notice numbness below the catheter insertion site
- Have pain at the catheter insertion site.
- Develop chest pain
Angioplasty (also called PTCA - Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty)
Angioplasty is a procedure to open a narrowed or blocked artery. Coronary angioplasty
helps more blood flow through heart arteries by opening up a narrowed section.
The arteries become blocked with fatty deposits called plaque. Without surgery,
a physician can open narrowed arteries by inflating a "balloon" catheter
to break up the plaque.
- Percutaneous means "through the skin." A catheter (a soft hollow
tube) is inserted through your skin into a blood vessel.
- Transluminal means "inside the blood vessel." The catheter is
guided to the blocked artery.
- Coronary means your heart vessel is affected.
- Angioplasty means dilating the blood vessel.
Before the procedure
- If you are diabetic, remind your cardiologist of your diet, medicine or
insulin needs.
- If you have an allergy to the contrast dye, tell your cardiologist or nurse.
- At the hospital, you will sign a consent form and wear a hospital gown.
- Your arm and/or groin area will be cleaned and shaved if needed.
- A nurse will start an intravenous (IV) line for medicine during the test.
- You may receive medicine to relax you.
During the procedure
- Small, sticky patches are placed on your chest to record your heartbeat.
- The catheter will be placed (usually) in your groin. The area will be cleaned
and shaved. (The catheter may be put in your arm.)
- A numbing medicine will be injected where the catheter will go in.
- A tube (introducer sheath) is put into your artery. Using X-ray, your doctor
will put a small guide wire to the blocked area.
- Your doctor will guide a catheter with a deflated balloon on its tip over
the wire to the blockage.
- Contrast dye will be injected so your doctor can take an x-ray of the blocked
artery.
- With the catheter in place, the doctor will slowly inflate the balloon.
If you feel discomfort or pressure, tell your doctor.
- The balloon will be inflated and deflated many times to flatten the plaque.
- Your doctor will remove the balloon catheter. Your newly opened artery will
allow for better blood flow to the area being treated.
- If a stent is used, it is mounted over a deflated balloon and expands when the balloon is inflated. The stent remains in place when the balloon is deflated. A stent is a tiny metal mesh tube that acts as a scaffold and provides support to hold the artery open.
After the procedure
- After the balloon angioplasty, you will be taken to a cardiovascular patient care unit for observation.
- Until the tube is taken out of your groin (or arm), you will need to stay in bed. You cannot sit up or bend where the tube is located.
- Your knee or arm will be braced to remind you not to move.
- The tube will be taken out within 24 hours.
- If you feel any discomfort or pressure, tell the nurse immediately.
- You may eat and drink, although there will be limitations. Your doctor will discuss your diet with you.
For more information
To speak to someone in the cardiac, vascular or respiratory programs at Mercy Hospital, please call 1-866-4HEART2.
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