What Is a Cardiac Cath Lab?

Posted by White Plains Hospital on April 7th, 2021

Cardiac Cath Lab in White Plains, New York, is a facility designed to allow doctors to take pictures of the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries feed the heart and those are the arteries that plug up as we get older through a process called atherosclerosis. People have named this process hardening of the arteries.

The lab is equipped with a table for the patients, with cameras above and below the patient. These cameras rotate and record the required observations.

The equipment that the doctors require to do the various procedures is available right next to the lab. During the procedure, four people inside the room are involved, and one person in the backroom, also called the control room. The person in the control room tabulates the devices that are being used by the doctor during the procedure.

There are multiple reasons why someone might need a heart cath. The most common reason people are taken to a cardiac cath lab in New York, is when the patient is having a heart attack or when the patient is having severe chest pain that might be relatable to any kind of cardiac blockages.

During the procedure, the specialist can either do it from the wrist or the leg. The advantage of doing the procedure from the wrist is minimal bleeding. But the artery is very small, and it can spasm. In such cases, a catheter is inserted in the arteries that feed the heart, which come just above the aortic valve. Then a dye is inserted so that it can be observed on the screen.

In the same labs, doctors put in pacemakers if your heartbeat rate is too slow. Permanent pacemakers are inserted if the slow heart rate cannot be rectified with adjusting meds. Electrophysiology is also a branch of cardiology that now deals with rhythm problems. The various procedures of electrophysiology are also done in the same cath labs.

With advancements in technology in the medical industry, nowadays the doctors are able to replace heart valves through the groin instead of inserting them surgically. This procedure is also done in a cardiac cath lab in white plains, New York.

All these procedures can be carried out in a single cath lab. Almost all the sophisticated procedures that are done in cardiology require a cardiac cath lab

Jalen Johnson is the author of this article. To know more about Radiation oncology White Plains, New York please visit our website: wphospital.org