Interventional Catheterization

The NC State Cardiology team is internationally recognized in minimally invasive catheterization procedures for the treatment of congenital diseases and life threatening slow heart rates (bradycardias).

Together, with the cardiology residents and nursing staff, the four board-certified interventional cardiology faculty have performed hundreds of minimally invasive procedures over the last 30 years. With the use of specialized imaging equipment, catheters and wires are guided into the heart through small incisions the neck or groin area to correct cardiac abnormalities. These procedures provide an alternative to more invasive surgical procedures. These procedures are performed under carefully monitored general anesthesia guided by board-certified anesthesiologists and their anesthesia team.

The most common interventional procedures performed by the NC State Cardiology team are balloon valvuloplasty for severe pulmonic stenosis and device-closure of a patent ductus arteriosus. We also commonly perform transvenous implantation of a pacemaker for a dog with a pathologically slow heart beat such as a heart block or sinus node disease. Other less common procedures include emergent heartworm extraction for caval syndrome and balloon valvuloplasty for subaortic stenosis. We are continually expanding and improving our interventional procedures often with the consultation with the human interventional cardiology experts in the area.