Cardiac Catheterization
Cardiac catheterization (also called a heart cath angiography) is a test in which a small, hollow tube called a catheter is guided through the large artery in your upper leg, wrist or arm into your heart. Dye is released through the catheter, and moving X-ray pictures are made as the dye travels through the heart.
This comprehensive test shows narrowed areas in the arteries, heart chamber size, pumping ability of the heart and ability of the valves to open and close, as well as a measurement of the pressures within the heart chambers and arteries.