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Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (Pediatric)
Cardiac catheterization is a common procedure used to help diagnose heart problems in children and adults. In some cases, it can repair heart problems that once required open-heart surgery. The procedure is performed in our Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, also called the "cath lab."
Because children have smaller hearts and blood vessels, the specialists who treat them need special equipment and expertise. Children also require special sedation and monitoring because of their size, age and differing ability to cooperate.
The laboratory is equipped with leading-edge imaging equipment and computers for fluoroscopy, digital movies and magnetic resonance imaging. Our team of specially trained cardiologists, nurses and child life specialists care for you and your family during the entire process.
Our staff works with your doctor via phone consultation and email for pre-procedure review and consultation and provides online access to procedural reports and images, as well as post-procedure follow-up studies.
The Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory also is involved in research, including participation in national multi-center clinical trials, as well as the development of new interventional heart therapies.
Procedures
In a procedure, catheters — thin, flexible narrow tubes — are threaded through the blood vessels to the heart. Catheters can carry miniature instruments to repair defects such as blocked blood vessels or holes.
Typically, a tiny incision is made in the groin or neck to insert a catheter into an artery. Modern imaging technology is used to guide the catheter to the problem area in a blood vessel or heart.
Catheterization can determine if blood vessels in the heart have narrowed, if the heart is pumping and blood is flowing normally, if valves of the heart are functioning correctly and if there are any heart abnormalities.
In some cases, catheterization is used to treat heart disease. During these procedures, the catheter can carry patches to repair holes in the heart, coils to close blood vessels, "balloons" to open restricted vessels or heart valves and metal tubes called stents to keep vessels open. These procedures include:
Balloon Arterioplasty and Valvoplasty — A balloon at the tip of the catheter is inserted into the narrow opening in a blocked blood vessel or deformed heart valve and then inflated to open the vessel or stretch the valve opening and separate the valve leaflets. Coils — Coils are used to repair patent ductus arteriosus, a condition in which a blood vessel that is supposed to close after birth stays open, or to close other unwanted blood vessels called collaterals. Catheters are used as conduits to place small metal coils in the ductus vessel that will block blood flow. Patching — Several devices currently are available to patch holes in hearts. The type and size of the device is chosen after X-ray and echocardiogram movie pictures determine the size and location of the hole. Sometimes more than one device is needed to completely close the hole. The folded patch is guided through the catheter until it reaches the proper position. Then it is unfolded to fit over the opening. After placement, within three months, the lining of the heart wall grows over the patch and seals the hole. Stents — Stents or metal tubes are used to open blocked blood vessels. After a narrowed vessel is measured, a stent is selected. Sometimes, more than one stent is needed to repair the vessel. The stent is placed over a deflated balloon at the catheter's tip. When the balloon reaches the narrow site, the balloon is inflated to widen the blood vessel. The stent will support the newly widened vessel walls once the catheter and balloon are withdrawn.
Conditions
Conditions that can be diagnosed or treated with cardiac catheterization include:
More Information
Dr. Phillip Moore is director of the Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. Other doctors in the program include Dr. David Teitel, chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology.
To make an appointment, please call (415) 353-2008
Pediatric Heart Center
UCSF Children's Hospital
505 Parnassus Ave.
Room M-1235
San Francisco, CA 94143
Phone (415) 353-2008
For help finding a doctor, please contact our Physician Referral Service:
In addition to the Catheter Lab, catheter procedures for children who have irregular heart rhythms called arrythmia are treated in the Pediatric Electrophysiology Laboratory.
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