Cardiac Catheterization and Interventional Cardiology

The Cardiac Catheterization and Interventional Cardiology Laboratory was inaugurated in August 1996 and has since undergone renovation and expansion. It currently has two state-of-the-art digital rooms that operate morning and afternoon shifts. As part of the renovation, a small 5-bed/recliner day hospital was built, allowing some patients to be discharged post-catheterization after a few hours of observation and avoiding the inconvenience of hospital admission. There is an in situ medical team that handles emergencies outside normal working hours.

Some of the most common diagnostic procedures performed are coronary angiography and studies of patients with valvular heart disease or adult congenital heart disease. Other procedures include transseptal catheterization and endomyocardial biopsies, in addition to special techniques to support angiographic diagnosis, such as intracoronary and intracavitary echocardiography, pressure wire, and Doppler wire.

Among the most common therapeutic procedures are percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass graft; aortic, mitral, pulmonary, and tricuspid valvuloplasty; closure of atrial septal defect (ASD); closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO); closure of post-infarction ventricular septal defect (VSD); closure of congenital ventricular septal defect; angioplasty with or without stent for aortic coarctation; and closure of paravalvular leaks.

Recent years have seen growing importance of the percutaneous implantation of an aortic valve prosthesis in high-surgical-risk patients, a technique in which this unit is a national benchmark.

The Heart Centre’s Mission

The mission of the Heart Centre at Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Victoria is to improve people’s quality of life, addressing our patients’ vascular health challenges in innovative, sustainable ways, within a personalized environment that is welcoming, high-quality and safe.