A procedure that examines the heart and is used to help physicians diagnose a heart problem and choose the most effective treatment. During this procedure, a physician can measure pressures inside the heart, evaluate the arteries delivering blood to the heart, and determine how well the heart is pumping. This is sometimes called a coronary angiogram.

Atherectomy
Procedure performed to treat blockages in the arteries. The narrowed arteries are widened by inserting a catheter carrying a device such as a rotating drill or a cutter into the artery.

Balloon Angioplasty
Also known as PTCA or coronary angioplasty is a procedure used to treat blockages in the coronary arteries. A catheter with a small balloon is inserted into the blocked artery and dilated to open the artery that supplies the heart muscle with blood.

Coronary Stent
A cylindrical, wire mesh device that is placed by a catheter into a previously blocked artery to help keep it open.

Alcohol Septal Ablation
Alcohol septal ablation is a percutaneous, minimally-invasive treatment performed by an interventional cardiologist to relieve symptoms and improve functional status in severely symptomatic patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who meet strict clinical, anatomic and physiologic selection criteria.

Valvuloplasty
This is a non-surgical procedure that may be used to open a narrow valve within the heart.

Patent Foreman Ovale
A patent foramen ovale is a small, flap-like opening in the dividing wall (septum) between the upper two chambers of the heart – the left atrium and the right atrium. In most people, the two flap-like sections of septum which form the foramen ovale fuse together after birth. However, in approximately 15-20%, the foramen doesn’t fuse together and remains open or “patent”. If the blood that crosses the PFO contains debris or a clot, it can enter the arteries which supply the brain and cause a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Nowadays, there is a non-surgical method to treat PFO using a device called a septal repair implant. PFO Closure is performed in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory by a physician.

Electrophysiologic Studies
Conducted to identify the location of your heart’s electrical pathways. Electrical wires are inserted into a catheter and guided through blood vessels in your arm or leg to your heart. While inside the chambers of the heart, the wires record abnormal impulses or heartbeats. Once the abnormality is discovered, it may be treated with radiofrequency catheter ablation.

Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation
A procedure used to treat some types of rapid heart beating. A catheter with an electrode at its tip is guided to the area of heart muscle where there's an extra pathway and a mild, painless radiofrequency energy is transmitted to the pathway. This causes heart muscle cells in a very small area to die, which stops the area from conducting the extra impulses that causes the heart to beat too rapidly.

Pacemaker Implantation and Management
Implantation of a small, battery-operated device that helps the heart beat in a regular rhythm.

Implantable Defibrillator Placement and Management
An ICD is a small electronic device, about the size of a deck of cards , that is placed inside the body. It constantly monitors your heart rhythm. If it senses a dangerous rapid heart rhythm, it delivers one or more pulses or shocks to the heart and restores a more normal rhythm.

Catheterizations, angioplasties or stent placement performed in a vessel outside the heart, such as those leading to the arms, legs, kidneys or brain.