Interventional cardiology refers to various non-surgical procedures for treating cardiovascular disease. Interventional cardiologists use catheters – thin, flexible tubes – to get inside blood vessels for diagnostic tests or to repair damaged vessels or other heart structures, often avoiding the need for surgery.

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What types of heart disease are treated with interventional cardiology?
Interventional cardiologists treat narrowed arteries and weakened heart valves – often caused by coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, or peripheral vascular disease.

• Coronary artery disease is the narrowing of the coronary arteries, the tubes which supply the heart muscle with blood and oxygen. This narrowing of the arteries is caused byatherosclerosis– the buildup of fatty deposits, cholesterol, calcium, and plaque on the inner surface of the arteries. Atherosclerosis restricts blood flow to the heart, which can lead to heart attack or other heart problems. Symptoms may includeangina(intermittent chest pain), shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, and/or weakness.
• Heart Valve Disease involves heart valves that are not working correctly to regulate the flow of blood through the heart chambers. This can arise from birth defects or through damage by rheumatic fever, bacterial infection, or heart attacks. Valves also can degenerate with the normal aging process. To compensate, your heart must pump harder, and may be unable to supply adequate blood circulation to the rest of your body. Two common forms of heart valve disease are aortic valve stenosis and mitral valve regurgitation. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, chest pain, swelling of the ankles and legs, fatigue, dizziness, and/or fainting.
• Peripheral Vascular Disease involves the other arteries that run throughout your body. Like the coronary arteries in your heart, these vessels can become clogged and hardened through atherosclerosis, and can increase your risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke, or limb loss. Symptoms may also include pain in the leg muscles (particularly calves and thighs) and/or severe aching pain in your toes or feet at nig

What types of procedures do interventional cardiologists perform?
Interventional cardiologists at University Hospital select one or a combination of procedures best-suited to each patient. Procedures include:

• Angioplasty and stenting – A long, slender tube is inserted through a blood vessel in your leg or wrist, and guided to the heart or elsewhere in your body. A dye is injected through the arteries to guide the cardiologist during the stenting procedure. A balloon at the tip of the catheter is inflated to stretch open the artery and restore increased blood flow to the heart. In most cases, a small metal mesh cylinder called a stent is then placed in the vessel to help keep it open.
• Atherectomy – Devices with tiny blades are sometimes used to cut away plaque deposits caused by atherosclerosis inside the blood vessel.
• Carotid Stenting – Similarly, balloons and stents can be used to open the carotid arteries, the main blood vessels to the brain, and thereby lessen the risk of stroke. This procedure was just recently approved by the FDA.
• Embolic protection – In some cases, particularly when the narrowing being treated is in a bypass graft or in the carotid arteries, filters and other specialized devices are used to help ensure that pieces of the plaque don’t break off and travel in the blood to cause damage.
• Percutaneous mitral valve repair – A catheter is introduced through a blood vessel in your leg and guided through a vein to the heart. Smaller catheters holding a special clip is guided into place and positioned near to, or actually attached to, the mitral valve to make it function properly. This is a very new procedure and BWH is one of just a few centers in the world participating in the clinical trials for this procedure.