The interventional cardiology unit consists of three catheterization laboratories furnished with the newest state-of-the-art digital equipment. Cardiac catheterization is used for diagnostic and treatment purposes.
Patients undergoing the procedure have a catheter inserted through a small incision in the groin or forearm, which is subsequently advanced through the arteries until it reaches the heart. The catheter can then be used to diagnose heart conditions including coronary artery disease and defective heart valves. The size and function of the heart and its valves can be assessed. By injecting a small amount of radiographic dye a coronary angiogram can be obtained which will detect blockages in the coronary arteries. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and intravascular Doppler examinations are used to obtain anatomic and physiologic information of the coronary arteries.

Cardiac catheterization is also used to treat coronary heart disease by interventional procedures, such as:

• Balloon angioplasty (dilatation of narrowed vessels) of even the most difficult and complex lesions
• Implantation of stainless steel and nitinol stents (metal mesh to support the dilated vessel from within), stents coated with different drugs and stents covered with biocompatible plastic sheets
• Radioactive brachytherapy (intravascular radiation to prevent recurrent narrowing of dilated vessels)
• Directional atherectomy and Rotablation (drills to open complex and calcified lesions)
• Balloon valvuloplasty (dilatation of stenosed valves)
• Closure of atrial septal defects by up-to-date devices
• Endomyocardial biopsies to diagnose myocardial diseases and follow-up post heart transplant patients

In our interventional cardiology unit over 2500 catheterizations are carried out each year, 1200 of which are interventional therapeutic procedures. All procedures are performed by a highly trained staff consisting of cardiologists, nurses and technicians, who maintain a high level of academic expertise and consistently continue their clinical training, in order to stay at the forefront of the field.