An interventional cardiologist is a heart specialist who uses catheters and other devices and also utilizes minimally-invasive techniques to treat various heart conditions. Common treatments include angioplasty, stenting, and cardiac catheterization.
An interventional cardiologist is not a heart surgeon who can do open-heart surgery, heart transplant surgery, or bypass surgery.
The cardiologist reviews your medical history and performs a physical examination. They may order tests like an electrocardiogram (ECG) or a coronary angiogram to better diagnose your condition.
These procedures are often less invasive than traditional open-heart surgery. This means that they carry a lower risk of complications and a shorter recovery time.
If you have been diagnosed with a serious heart condition, your doctor or GP (General Practitioner) will likely refer you to an interventional cardiologist.
Conditions include coronary artery disease, heart valve defects, aortic stenosis, atrial fibrillation, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary embolism, and aneurysm.
Procedures include alcohol septal ablation, atherectomy, angioplasty, stent placement, coronary angiography, valvuloplasty, pacemaker/defibrillator implantation, and repair of birth defects.
You will be given a local anesthetic to numb the area, and you will remain awake during the procedure. A catheter is inserted through an artery to reach the heart.