Invasive cardiology is a branch of cardiology that provides catheter-based treatment of heart diseases. Cardiac catheterization is performed to detect the presence of heart disease, determine its severity and learn how it affects the heart's capacity to function.
Angiogram / Catheterization - A coronary catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure to access the coronary circulation and blood filled chambers of the heart using a catheter. It is performed for both diagnostic and interventional (treatment) purposes.
Angioplasty - Also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), angioplasty is an intervention for the treatment of coronary artery disease.
Stent - Coronary stents are placed during a percutaneous coronary intervention, also known as angioplasty. The most common use for coronary stents is in the coronary arteries, into which a bare-metal stent, a drug-eluting stent, a bioabsorbable stent, a dual-therapy stent (combination of both drug and bioengineered stent), or occasionally a covered stent is inserted.