Interventional Cardiology: Heart Catheterization and Stent Applications

What is Angiography and Heart Catheterization?

Heart catheterization is a minimal interventional procedure performed to evaluate how the heart works and image coronary vessels. The catheter laboratory experience Dr. med. Gazi Keskin personally managed during his tenure as Oberarzt (Senior Physician) at Paderborn St. Vincenz Hospital in Germany is offered today for our patients in Switzerland at the highest standard.

How Does the Procedure Happen?

Usually under local anesthesia, the heart is reached with thin, flexible tubes (catheters) by entering a vessel in the wrist (radial artery) or groin (femoral artery). A kind of "map" of the vessels is drawn by giving contrast material. If a blockage or narrowing is detected, the vessel can be reopened with balloon or stent application in the same session.

Radial (Wrist) Angiography: New Standard in Patient Comfort

Instead of the groin entry method, which used to be standard, we prefer the wrist entry method today, which is more comfortable and safe. Advantages of this method:

• Complications related to bleeding are much less.
• The patient can stand up immediately after the procedure.
• Discharge time is shortened and patient comfort is increased.

Drug-Eluting Stents (DES) and Technological Advances

"Drug-Eluting Stents" we use in modern cardiology minimize the risk of re-occlusion (restenosis) of the vessel. These stents regulate tissue healing by releasing controlled medication to the area where they are placed for a certain period. As Dr. Gazi Keskin, we target long-term success by choosing the most up-to-date stent technologies most suitable for our patients' clinical picture.

Who is it Suitable For?

Catheterization is a vital diagnostic and treatment tool for patients with suspicious findings in tests such as stress tests or scintigraphy, patients complaining of chest pain (angina pectoris), or patients who have had a heart attack.