cardiobill
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 879
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Post by cardiobill on Oct 17, 2013 11:50:00 GMT -5
I did what we call a right and left heart cath (routine procedure) the other day and the catheters formed a heart like shape. There are 2 catheters- one is called a pigtail (rounded on the tip in the shape of a pigtail I guess) The other is a swan ganz catheter (named after the inventors I think in the 1960s). The pigtail has come up from the leg artery (femoral artery) and is in the ascending aorta. The swan has come up from the leg vein (femoral vein) and is in the pulmonary artery. Together they formed the outline of a heart shape. I thought it looked cool. Thanks for looking Bill
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Post by mohs on Oct 17, 2013 12:42:38 GMT -5
Wow is that an x-ray in someone's body? Ed
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Post by wireholic on Oct 17, 2013 12:49:46 GMT -5
Very Cool
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cardiobill
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 879
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Post by cardiobill on Oct 17, 2013 13:09:13 GMT -5
Ed- yes it is an xray. You can sort of see the ribs. This is a still shot but when we do them it is actually a bunch of xrays strung together in a moving picture Bill
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2013 17:34:25 GMT -5
looks like crop circles!
thanks for sharing the kinda recursive images.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Oct 17, 2013 18:07:05 GMT -5
That's cool, Bill. Did you give a copy to the owner of the heart?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2013 21:54:19 GMT -5
That's cool, Bill. Did you give a copy to the owner of the heart? Great idea!
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Post by mohs on Oct 17, 2013 22:16:21 GMT -5
Dr. Bill do the catheters usually just set randomly? or did you do that on purpose? mostly
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cardiobill
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 879
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Post by cardiobill on Oct 17, 2013 22:41:56 GMT -5
Rob- We offer everyone a copy of their cath, just burn it to a DVD. Takes about a minute to do and costs us all of about 50 cents. This pt (and most older people)wasn't that computer literate and didn't want one. We show everyone all their pictures on a large monitor before they ever leave the lab. These procedures are done with light sedation. They actually watch as we do them. Ed- we have to push/ pull twist the catheters to make them go where we want. They have different shapes and curves to go where we want them. most of the times it is pretty easy, sometimes it takes a bit more skill. The reason we do these tests primarily is to look for blockage(s), Again, these are moving pictures seen real time but here is an example of a blockage of a heart artery from another case. You can see how the artery almost looks "disconnected". We would classify this as a 99% stenosis (blockage). The heart shape from the cathter was just one of those random things. It just depends on where the catheters are and camera angle etc. I have never seen them take this shape and I have done thousands of these. You know from my posts what a heart guy I am and that is why I thought it was a cool pic Bill
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Post by mohs on Oct 18, 2013 0:48:33 GMT -5
well I'm really ignorant about lot of this but does the catheter in this case go through an artery/vein to open up the blockage ? when your threading the catheter are you viewing the operation on a monitor? Thanks Bill! Ed
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cardiobill
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 879
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Post by cardiobill on Oct 18, 2013 18:35:19 GMT -5
Ed I wouldn't expect anyone to be well versed in interventional cardiology At least your well versed in rocks - which I can not claim. You are the nations if not the worlds expert in Rock'n hearts!!! The catheters get to the blockage and then a thin wire gets threaded through the lumen of the catheter through the blockage. The catheters are soft plastic tubes not much bigger in size than the ink tube in an ink pen but much longer. Once the wire is passed through the blockage a deflated balloon is threaded over the wire into the blockage and inflated. Often a stent is used to prevent the artery from "collapsing", sometimes a balloon is all that's needed. Then it is all removed except the stent. We are viewing it on a monitor. All is done though a needle poke in the groin or wrist. No incision is made. Bill
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Post by Pat on Oct 18, 2013 21:40:39 GMT -5
Is the top of your catheter heart actually in the person 's 'heart?
That is so neat! Thanks!
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