Peter,
The cath lab is the area in the hospital where a person with possible problems in the heart is taken for a catheterization test. In this test, a thin plastic tube (catheter) is threaded up into the heart or its arteries via a blood vessel in the arm or groin. In the olden days (twenty years ago), the catheters were just hollow tubes that you could draw blood from, and inject contrast dye or medications into. Today, they are equipped with ultrasound, so you can see the inside of the artery, with flow wires, so you can measure how much blood is going through, with balloon, laser, or little rotor-rooter devices to cut through any blockage, and with stents, which help to keep the vessel open after you've cleaned it out - a much cheaper and easier approach than surgery, though not yet able to replace it for all cases.
Thanks for the article; it's nice to get reinforcement that this is a good investment!
Bob |
