What You Need to Know about Coronary Angiography

Coronary angiography is a test carried out to see if you have a blockage in a coronary artery. Your doctor will want to do a coronary angiography if they’re concerned that you are at a risk of a heart attack, or if you have unstable angina, atypical chest pain, aortic stenosis, or unexplained heart failure.

This test is also known as a cardiac angiogram, catheter arteriography, or cardiac catheterization. Either way, it always pays off to have a clear insight into what angiography is all about before honoring your first appointment.

Well, doctors often use an MRI or a CT scan before a coronary angiography test, in an attempt to pinpoint problems with your heart. In this regard, you should avoid eating or drinking anything for eight hours before the angiography. Moreover, arrange for someone to give you a ride back home.

Ensure you have someone around to stay with you the night after your angiography test since you may feel dizzy or light-headed for the first 24 hours after the cardiac angiography. In most instances, you’ll be asked to check into the hospital the morning of the test, and you can check out later the same day.

At the hospital, you’ll be asked to put on a hospital gown and to sign consent forms. The nurses will take your blood pressure, start an intravenous line and, if you happen to have diabetes, check your blood sugar. You may also have to undergo a blood test and an electrocardiogram.

Inform your doctor in advance when allergic to seafood, if you’ve had a bad reaction to contrast dye in the past, if you’re taking sildenafil, or if you might be pregnant. After all, this information is crucial when taking the angiography test.

Before the angiography test, you’ll be given a mild sedative to help you relax. You’ll be awake throughout the test. Not to mention, your doctor will clean and numb an area of your body in the groin or arm using an anesthetic.

You may feel a dull pressure as a sheath is inserted into an artery. A thin tube called a catheter will then be guided gently up to an artery in your heart. Your doctor will supervise the entire process on a screen. It is highly unlikely that you will feel the tube move through your blood vessels.