Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Arteriography at Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital

Objective: To study the results of, and hence the treatment modalities that followed, the first stage of catheterization / arteriography performed at the newly established Cardiovascular Disease Centre, Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital as well as to report the applications and usefulness of the procedure in various non-cardiac conditions. Patients and Method: All patients who underwent catheterization/arteriography October 1999-May 2000 were included for the study. The procedures were carried out in a standard manner using a biplane imaging system with digital substraction angiography (DSA). Some basic knowledge involving in the procedures was also reviewed Result: A total of 120 (69 males and 51 females) who had mean age of 56 ± 14.2 years, range 18-87 years, underwent cardiac catheterization/ arteriography. Of these patients, coronary arteriography, right-sided cardiac catheterization, cerebral arteriography, renal arteriography and subclavian arteriography were performed in 84, 14, 10, 1 and 1 cases, respectively. Pace makers were implanted in 10 cases. As a result, 43 cases were referred for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)/ coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG); 21 cases were evaluated preoperatively for cardiac surgery and 42 cases were placed on medical treatment. Kidney transplantation and pace maker implantation were performed in 1 and 10 cases respectively. There were 3 cases who had normal coronary angiogram. Complications occurred in 4 cases (3.3%): dissection of femoral artery 2 cases, supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) 1 case and ventricular tachycardia (VT) case. There were no adverse reaction to contrast media, acute myocardial infarction or death. The center is by now preparing for cardiac interventions set for the near future. Conclusion: Cardiac catheterization/ arteriography in our centre has yielded excellent results with a low complication rate and no cases of death. It is helpful for determining proper subsequent treatments as well as for performing cardiac procedures such as pace maker implantation.