Cardiac Catheterization

[Johnpb]

Hello. I've just been informed as to the tests I will have to go prior to surgery.

Cardiac catheterization is first up. I've have two minor strokes, one in 2009 and one in 2021.

I'm looking for any information people have that will give me an accurate sense of what to expect. I'm terrified, so Google is not my friend.

Thanks.

 

[tom in MO]

For me it was a positive experience. No problems. Done quickly. For years I have been warned about clogged arteries but this test showed my arteries were not clogged and my only problem was the stenotic aortic valve. That was good news. The worst thing was grogieness from the sedatives.

 

[Bionic Orange]

Hello. I've just been informed as to the tests I will have to go prior to surgery.

Cardiac catheterization is first up. I've have two minor strokes, one in 2009 and one in 2021.

I'm looking for any information people have that will give me an accurate sense of what to expect. I'm terrified, so Google is not my friend.

Thanks.

Hi Johnpb,

I hear your fear. I was there too. But like tom in MO it was also a positive experience for me. My coronary arteries were clear and the cardiologist and staff in the cath lab were very skilled.

My biggest hurdle was my mind. The thing that helped me prepare for the cardiac catheterization was listening to a guided meditation that was initially developed for people undergoing this procedure. Bellaruth Naparstek's: "A Guided Meditation to Help You Be Relaxed & Awake During Medical Procedures".

Also, the kick-a-poo joy juice (intravenous Midazolam) that they gave me in the cath lab prior to the procedure also helped.

You'll do great. You've got this.

 

[Bionic Orange]

The worst thing was grogieness from the sedatives.

Because I knew how sensitive I was to drugs in general, I asked for 1/4 to 1/2 the dose of the Midazolam. I felt so good afterward, that I was able to have a meeting with my cardiac surgeon to discuss valve choices and surgical dates, immediately after the procedure.

 

[Chuck C]

This is a very routine prodecure. It should be no cause for worry. You will be awake, but they will give you a sedative so that you will be nice and relaxed.

Prior to valve surgery, they want to check on the condition of your coronary arteries. If they see a blockage which needs repair in one of your coronaries, the idea is that they would like to know about it so that while they are doing the OHS for your valve they can take care of the coronary blockage while they are in there. If there is a blockage, depending on the severity, they might do a combined CABG (aortic bypass) and SAVR (valve surgery.

 

[Timmay]

I didn’t know what to expect when I had mine. I was in a very light twilight state when they did it and I found everything really interesting and pretty cool. I watched the big monitors as he was doing the testing.

If I HAD to pinpoint a bad part (for me), it would be the large amount of bruising that I had in my groin area (they used my right hip/groin area). I was more sore than what I was expecting and the bruising lasted for at least 2 weeks (probably more IIRC).

It was good results though. Interesting but good. They put me into the category of “no cardiovascular disease” and nothing else had to be addressed in the upcoming AVR. That said, “no cardiovascular disease” doesn’t mean that there is no clogging. It just means that the amount of clogging was “nothing” to them. I believe that I had 10% clogging in one of the arteries and 20% in two other arteries. To them, that was great news.

 

[Gail in Ca]

It should go fine as mine did before the one I had when the nurses were on strike. Avoid doing it if that’s the case!

 

[Croooser]

Another experience of expecting blockage. Dominant family history and years of taking meds for high cholesterol. But the test showed 20% in one artery.

Standard for intervention at CC was >80%. Statens worked for me.

The test went fine. Cath in the right wrist.

 

[carolinemc]

For me it was a positive experience. No problems. Done quickly. For years I have been warned about clogged arteries but this test showed my arteries were not clogged and my only problem was the stenotic aortic valve. That was good news. The worst thing was grogieness from the sedatives.

I had several of them in my life. Also no problem. And I had to stay still for three hours after my last one in 2001. Like it better than staying in the hospital overnight.

 

[V__]

My experience is along the lines of several statements people here already mentioned. More details below.

For me it was a positive experience. No problems. Done quickly. .... The worst thing was grogieness from the sedatives.

I also had "awake sedation". Could talk to the cardiologist performing the procedure and tell her about my sensations (felt a minor pressure). But standing up afterwards was not quite easy. They did have an appropriate protocol for the patients: a guided walking, a requirement for somebody else to drive you home, etc.

This is a very routine prodecure. It should be no cause for worry. You will be awake, but they will give you a sedative so that you will be nice and relaxed.

Indeed, the procedure seems to be a simpler version of stenting, with same tools (but no actual stents). And the stenting is VERY popular (like 600,000 procedures in the US, if I recall correctly, more than the number of heart surgeries even).

They put me into the category of “no cardiovascular disease” and nothing else had to be addressed in the upcoming AVR. That said, “no cardiovascular disease” doesn’t mean that there is no clogging. It just means that the amount of clogging was “nothing” to them. I believe that I had 10% clogging in one of the arteries and 20% in two other arteries. To them, that was great news.

I find such information to be very important. The "minor" (small-area) clogging is not worth the increased risk for adding the bypass to the valve surgery. But it's good information to know, since then one can treat it with statins. So that your chances of a heart attack decades later are reduced. Unfortunately, it seems that you can only get the information about these small cloggings with the angiography methods, which are not commonly done. Since you are getting it done, you'd be ahead, in some sense.

 

[Protimenow]

I've had many cardiac cath studies. My electrocardiologist told me that my coronary arteries were clear - like those of a 16 year old. I heart this many times - but I suspect that a greedy cardiologist (who I dropped once I got my electrocardiologist) placed a shunt that was probably not necessary (to increase his fees?) during one of my cardiac caths.

Most of mine were done through an artery in my wrist - recovery from that type of 'insult' to my arteries was quick.

I wanted to be awake during my last procedures, but they knocked me out because I was feeling the pain in my wrist too acutely.

How many of us remember 'kickapoo joy juice?' - I do and I suspect that many others here also remember. Or, for that matter, how many of us remember Li'l Abner or Al Capp? There's a good page on Li'l Abner on Wikipedia.

 

[pellicle]

How many of us remember 'kickapoo joy juice?

When did I enter this parallel universe?
⊙_⊙

 

[LondonAndy]

By coincidence I posted a little bit about my catheterisation experience on this post yesterday. I am weird - I enjoyed mine. I was fully conscious throughout, and didn't feel a thing. The technicians were in a booth, watching through a big window as they controlled the robotic arm that moved around my body to fire the x-rays from different positions. There was a big plasma TV screen alongside, on which they watched the zaps. I remained in hospital afterwards, and had my mechanical valve inserted a day or two later. There was slight discomfort where they had gone in through my groin, but that was it.

 

[pellicle]

I am weird - I enjoyed mine

we're both weird, I had a cracker time too

Scared the interventional cardiologist by saying something while he was obsessed with looking at the screen and speaking to himself while working

I remained in hospital afterwards, and had my mechanical valve inserted a day or two later.

sorry, but the word inserted drove me here:

 

[Protimenow]

When did I enter this parallel universe?
⊙_⊙

No, not a parallel universe.

Li'l Abner may not have made it (or have been as funny) outside of the U.S.A.

Aside from the 1959 movie of the same name (probably came out before you were born), you probably never heard of it.