Cardiac catheterization

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Risks

Results

Cardiac catheterization

Alternative Names:

Catheterization - cardiac; Heart catheterization

What the risks are:

Cardiac catherization carries a slightly increased risk when compared with other heart tests. However, the test is very safe when performed by an experienced team.

Generally, the risk of serious complications ranges from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 500. The risks include the following:

Cardiac arrhythmias
Cardiac tamponade
Trauma to the artery caused by hematoma
Low blood pressure
Reaction to contrast medium
Hemorrhage
Stroke
Heart attack

Considerations associated with any type of catheterization include the following:

In general, there is a risk of bleeding, infection, and pain at the IV site.
There is always a very small risk that the soft plastic catheters could actually damage the blood vessels.
Blood clots could form on the catheters and later block blood vessels elsewhere in the body.
The contrast material could damage the kidneys (particularly in patients with diabetes).

Special considerations:

Cardiac catheterization may include coronary angiography.

Review Date: 7/9/2004
Reviewed By: Seth Keller, M.D., Division of Cardiology and Electrophysiology at New York Hospital Center of Queens, Flushing, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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