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Interventional cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center includes advanced, state-of-the-art procedures that can improve a patient’s heart condition and manage symptoms.

• Angioplasty – using a thin flexible tube (catheter) with a balloon or other device at its tip, a cardiologist guides the catheter to the site of a narrowed or blocked artery and inflates the balloon to compress plaque against the artery wall to help restore the flow of blood through the artery.
  
  
• Cardiac catheterization – using a catheter placed inside the heart, a cardiologist performs diagnostic examinations and treatment procedures. Cardiac catheters may be used to administer a drug, or to unblock narrowed coronary arteries with balloon angioplasty or a stent, which holds open an artery for improved blood flow.
  
  
• Catheter ablation – using a catheter to deliver focused energy to specific areas of the heart, a cardiologist produces a tiny scar that stops irregular impulses that originate in the pulmonary veins. UT Southwestern researchers report that pulmonary vein ablation corrects abnormal heart rhythms in about 70 percent of those who receive it, while the remainder often experiences fewer or less intense attacks.
  
  
• Coronary stents – using a catheter, a cardiologist inserts a small, lattice-shaped metal tube at the site of a narrowed coronary artery to relieve narrowing. Stents can also contain drugs that potentially reduce the risk that arteries will become blocked again.
  
  
• Electrical cardioversion – using a low-voltage electric current delivered to the chest using patches or paddles, a cardiologist can reset the heart rhythm to a normal pace. The procedure is used in conjunction with a short-acting anesthetic.
  
  
• Electrophysiology (EP)– using a catheter with electrodes at its tip, a cardiologist can measure electrical impulses, pinpoint the precise location of injured heart muscle and administer electric impulses to determine their ability to affect arrhythmias. An EP study can be used to help diagnose the cause of arrhythmias, as well as assess the need for various treatments for heart disease.
  
  
• Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) – using local anesthesia and a sedative, a UT Southwestern cardiologist uses a surgical procedure to implant a small electronic device near a patient’s heart. The device continually monitors heart rhythm and delivers an electric current that is calibrated to respond differently according to whether the heart rhythm needs to be slowed down or whether defibrillation is needed to reset the heart to a normal rhythm.
  
  
• Implantable pacemaker – using local anesthesia and a sedative, a cardiologist uses a surgical procedure to implant a small electronic device near the heart (a pacemaker can also be implanted during heart surgery performed to treat heart disease). The device helps prevent a patient’s heart from beating too slowly and can include sensors for heart rhythm management, including increasing or decreasing the heart rate, as needed.

For more information, please visit the Health Library.