Angiogram
Cardiac angiograms allow cardiologists to take pictures of the heart and its vessels as well as measure pressures in the heart chambers. They do this by inserting small catheters (hollow plastic tubes) through arteries and veins using x-ray guidance. During this test, dye is injected through the catheter and x-ray pictures of the coronary arteries are taken, providing a “road map” that helps doctors pinpoint any arterial blockages.
The St. Paul’s angiography team, which performs about 2,500 of these procedures each year, provides important diagnostic support to surgeons, as well as the congenital heart disease group and the advanced heart failure and transplant programs. Angiograms remain the most common cardiac catheterization procedure performed around the world.