Question

A client with a long history of cardiovascular problems, including angina and hypertension, is scheduled to have a cardiac catheterization. during preprocedure teaching, what does the nurse explains to the client is the major purpose for catheterization?

Answer 1

The nurse will explain to the client is the catheterization will visualize the disease process in the coronary arteries. A cardiac catheterization delivers information on how well a heart works, recognizes problems and allows for procedures to open blocked arteries.

For example, during cardiac catheterization your doctor may:

Gather up samples of blood to measure the oxygen content in the four chambers of your heart.

Take X-rays using contrast dye injected over the catheter to look for narrowed or blocked coronary arteries. This is known as coronary arteriography or coronary angiography.

Assess the ability of the pumping chambers to contract.

Look for deficiencies in the valves or chambers of your heart.

Execute a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) such as coronary angioplasty with stenting to open up narrowed or blocked segments of a coronary artery.

Check the compression in the four chambers of your heart.
Remove a small piece of heart tissue to examine under a microscope (biopsy).