Information

An angiogram or cardiac catheter is a test involving the cardiologist placing tubes in the patient’s heart and coronary arteries.

This test is performed in a cardiac laboratory in hospital by one of our specialist interventional cardiologists.

You will require admission to the hospital for a day or sometimes overnight.

During the procedure you are given a sedative for relaxation. A local anaesthetic is given, usually in the groin or the arm, and a small tube is inserted into an artery and guided up to the heart and coronary arteries on the outside of the heart. Dye is injected into this tube and X-Rays are taken to see if there are any blockages in any of these arteries. Sometimes a blockage in a coronary artery can be opened with a balloon or a metal stent, either at the time of the initial procedure or a later date.