Cardiac catheterisation is a medical procedure used to assess, diagnose and treat heart conditions.

A plastic tube called a sheath is placed into a large blood vessel (usually via the groin in infants and children) and a long thin tube (catheter) is inserted through this and threaded up to the right or left side of the heart, using X-rays to guide the procedure. The cardiologist can then use the catheter to carry out tests and treatments. Reasons a cardiac catheterisation may be carried out include:

• to find out information such as cardiac pressures and oxygen levels which aid in diagnosis and assessment
• to further define cardiac anatomy
• to obtain small heart muscle samples (called a heart biopsy)
• to open the atrial septum in congenital heart problems that cause infants to become cyanotic (blue colouring due to insufficient oxygen)
• to place mesh devices or plugs to close small holes inside the heart (e.g. atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect)
• to expand narrow valves or vessels with balloon catheters
• to place wire devices/tubes (stents) in narrow blood vessels to keep them open.

The procedure is performed by a cardiologist and can be carried out on children of any age, including newborn infants. Usually children admitted to 23B for a cardiac catheter will need to stay overnight, but this is not always necessary. If the cardiologist determines an overnight stay is not needed, Auckland patients may have a pre-admission visit the week before the cardiac catheter is performed, which minimises the amount of time needed for preparation on the day of the procedure. For patients living outside of Auckland who don't need to stay overnight in hospital, the nights before and after the cardiac catheter are spent at Ronald McDonald House.

• Paediatric Cardiac Catheterisation Pre-Procedure Information for Families (PDF, 52.5 KB)
  

  Starship Family Information Factsheet