Interventional cardiology is a branch of the medical specialty of cardiology that deals specifically with the mechanical treatment of heart diseases. Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining human health or restoring it through the treatment of disease and injury. ... Cardiology is the branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the heart and blood vessels. ... Heart disease is one of a number of different diseases which afflict the heart. ...

A large number of procedures can be performed to the heart by catheterization. This involves the insertion of a sheath into the femoral artery (or theoretically any large peripheral artery) and cannulating the heart under X-ray vision (most commonly fluoroscopy, a real-time x-ray). The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ... A coronary catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure to access the coronary circulation and blood filled chambers of the heart using a catheter. ... Femoral artery and its major branches - right thigh, anterior view. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... A modern fluoroscope. ...

Procedures performed by specialists in interventional cardiology:

• Angioplasty (PTCA, Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty) - for coronary atherosclerosis
• Radiofrequent ablation - for arrhythmias
• Maze procedure - for atrial fibrillation
• Insertion of artificial pacemakers is not necessarily limited to interventional cardiology.

Surgery of the heart is done by the specialism of cardiothoracic surgery. Some interventional cardiology procedures are only performed when there is cardiothoracic surgery expertise in the hospital, in case of complications. Angioplasty is the mechanical, hydraulic dilation of a narrowed or totally obstructed arterial lumen, generally caused by atheroma (the lesion of atherosclerosis). ... The coronary circulation consists of the blood vessels that supply blood to, and remove blood from, the heart. ... Ablation is defined as the removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes. ... A cardiac arrhythmia, also called cardiac dysrhythmia, is a disturbance in the regular rhythm of the heartbeat. ... Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). ... This article is about a medical device which electrically stimulates the heart. ... In medicine, the field of (cardio)thoracic surgery or cardiovascular surgery is involved in the surgical treatment of diseases affecting organs inside the thorax, i. ...

See also

• Catheter
• Cannula
• Stent
• Restenosis

Catheter disassembled In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity duct or vessel. ... A cannula (pl. ... In medicine, a stent is either an expandable wire mesh or hollow perforated tube that is inserted into a hollow structure of the body to keep it open. ... Restenosis literally means the reoccurrence of stenosis. ...

External links

• Angioplasty.Org