Cardiac Catheterization at Southern Regional Heart Services

Diagnosing Cardiovascular Disease and Saving Lives

Southern Regional's Heart & Vascular Care Center has the technology and expertise to detect, diagnose, and treat life-threatening cardiovascular conditions sooner.

Non-invasive techniques - such as cardiac catheterization - performed in our vascular laboratory allow for early detection and treatment of potentially deadly cardiovascular disease.

Cardiac catheterization, which is known as cardiac cath, involves inserting a thin, flexible tube called a catheter into an artery. The catheter is extended into the chambers of the heart or coronary arteries to measure how well the heart is working and search for any blockages.

Opening Blocked Arteries

While performing the cardiac cath, an interventional cardiologist often discovers a blockage in the patient's arteries. If needed, a blockage can be treated immediately with an emergency angioplasty, which will open the blocked artery.

As part of the same catheterization process, a cardiologist can perform an angioplasty by inserting a balloon and a wire mesh tube called a stent, both of which hold the artery open to relieve the blockage.

Southern Regional's Heart & Vascular Care Center performs more than 1,600 cardiac catheterizations and over 250 angioplasties every year. We also perform a full specturm of other procedures with state-of-the-art, digital imaging equipment in our cardiac catheterization labs.

Nationally-Accredited Lab

Souther Regional Health System's Vascular Laboratory was recognized by the Intersocietal Commission for the accreditation of Vascular Laboratories for its commitment to providing a high level of patient care and quality testing for the diagnosis of vascular disease.  We were re-accredited in September of 2009 which reaffirms our commitment to providing a high level of patient care and quality testing for the diagnosis of vascular disease.

Southern Regional is one of a few hospital-based vascular labs with this accreditation in south metro Atlanta.

Our lab helps us rapidly diagnose patients with cardiovascular disease and identify early signes of a heart attack - so that patients get treated more quickly. Having this capability right here is important because treating patients quickly means saving more heart muscle.