Dra. Azucena Murillo Olivas

Pediatric Cardiology

Interventional Catheterization

A type of catheterization in which certain types of treatments can be applied with special catheters. This type of catheters have balloons at their tip with which arteries and valves that are narrow can be opened. Other catheters are used to implant devices such as stents, coils and intracardiac devices to close or keep open certain heart blood vessels.

Each procedure is customized according to the patient’s disease and its effectiveness is discussed with the child’s cardiologist and with the interventional cardiologist who participates in the procedure.

Some interventions are considered as the first choice and are preferred to surgery. Some interventions are considered palliatives, which means that they provide a short- or mid-term solution until surgery is performed.

The are various types of treatments. The most commonly used is the one for opening valves that are partially closed (stenosis), or in arteries that are somewhat obstructed and don’t allow adequate blood flow.

These types of interventions are also performed with some cardiac defects such as intraatrial communication, which consists of a small window or hole in between the upper chambers of the heart.

The interventional cardiologist is generally assisted by a pediatric cardiologist, nurses and x-ray technicians.

What is a stent?
A stent is a small, flexible tube made of plastic or wire mesh. It is implanted in the body to treat a variety of medical conditions.
Stent 1stent 2stent 3
What conditions can be treated with a Stent?
Stents are frequently used to maintain blood vessels open when these are narrowed or blocked by clots after performing and angioplasty.

Angioplasty is a procedure in which the balloon at the tip of the catheter moves through the boy to the place where the vessel is blocked. Then the balloon is inflated to open the vessel. In some cases, however, stents may be placed as the primary method to keep the vessel open.

What is a coil?
A coil is a metal spiral coated with a special material (Dacron) that encourages blood clotting. This device is used to block (embolize) or close unnecessary blood vessels that may even be causing the patient severe problems. They are sued in different parts of the body, even in vessels near the heart or the brain.
coil
What is an intracardiac device?
dispositivos intracardiacos
They are flexible metallic devices of different shapes and sizes that allow the occlusion of defects or communication between the cavities of the heart. They are put in place with heart catheterization.

In the past, defects in the walls that divide the heart chambers were closed with open heart surgery. Nowadays some defects may be closed using interventional catheterization and intracardiac devices.