In case of disease.

     When a coronary artery has been excecively narrowed by a fatty deposit called also atheromateous (mixture of fats, cholesterol, calcium …) the blood flow to the muscle tissue which depends on this artery will decrease. Pain, when making an effort, will follow and later, pain at rest, indicating that the cardiac muscle is suffering : that is angina pectoris. If the artery is entirely blocked, the corresponding muscle may be destroyed and remplaced by a fibrous scar incapable of contraction : this is myocardical infarction, the seriousness of which essentially depends on the extent of the affected area.

When a cardiac valve is altered (by infection, calcium deposit, inflamatory disease such as acute articular rheumatism…). The blood flow inside cardiac cavities will be affected. This, more or less rapidly, leads to the incapicity of the heart to meet the needs of the body : this is congestive heart failure.

How cardiac catheterisation works :

The cardiac catheterisation involves passing a thin tube (catheter) into the heart through an artery allowing the pressures created by heart contractions to be studied. An injection of a contrast product, iodine base, visible to x rays, can be made through this tube. This cardiac cavities coronary arteries and the fonctionning of different valves can be seen and studied.

The catheter movement through the arteries is painless.