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A catheter is a thin, flexible, hollow plastic tube that can be used to perform various diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures. Catheters come in a variety sizes and materials, such as hard plastic or flexible tubing. The type and size of the catheter used will depend on its purpose. The process of introducing a catheter is known as catheterization.
Catheters may be used for a number of purposes, including drainage of fluids (e.g. from a surgical site or abscess), administration of drugs or surgical procedures. They are designed to gain access to the body with as little trauma as possible. For this reason, catheter-based therapies are sometimes called minimally invasive.
Cardiovascular catheters are small enough to be threaded through a vein or artery and all the way to the heart. For example, in some procedures, the catheter is introduced into the body in the groin area and passed up to the heart. In this type of cardiac catheterization procedure, patients generally do not feel the movement of the catheter through their body. Once in place, the catheter allows a number of tests and/or treatment procedures to be performed, including angiography or balloon angioplasty with or without stenting.
In the heart, catheters can also be used to treat abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias. In this case, a catheter may be advanced to the region of the heart that is causing abnormal heartbeats. Some form of highly targeted energy is then delivered to the tissue causing the abnormal heart rhythm. This destroys the tissue and stops the arrhythmias. This form of therapy is known as catheter ablation.
Catheters are also used to treat carotid artery disease, although not as frequently. Carotid artery disease occurs when there is a blockage in the carotid arteries in the neck, which supply the brain with oxygen-rich blood. It is a major cause of stroke, which is a leading cause of death and disability. Newer catheter based procedures, including carotid artery stenting, allow physicians to reduce the risk of stroke without requiring the patient to under more invasive surgeries. Deeper inside the brain, tiny catheters have been developed that can block potentially deadly aneurysms in the brain, which can also lead to stroke. These catheters employ coils that are implanted in the aneurysm. Once in place, the coil causes a blood clot to form, thus sealing off the aneurysm.
Catheter-based procedures are also available to treat aortic artery disease, including aneurysms. The aorta is the body's largest artery. It travels from the heart down through the chest and abdomen and carries oxygen-fresh blood to the organs and abdomen. An aneurysm occurs when part of the artery wall weakens and bulges out. If the aneurysm ruptures, the result is potentially devastating. Catheters have been developed that can delivery stent-grafts to the site of the aneurysm, thus strengthening the vessel wall and routing blood away from the aneurysm.
Catheter-based procedures usually take place in a hospital’s catheterization lab. Depending on the nature of the procedure, they may be performed by cardiologists, radiologists, interventional cardiologists or other specialties. In general, patients can expect to go home in about six hours after a test and about 24 hours after an intervention.
The first human heart catheter was developed in 1929 by a German physician named Dr. Werner Forssmann. Forssmann performed catheterization experiments on himself by threading a well-lubricated rubber catheter into a vein in his left arm until it reached his collarbone. Although his unorthodox experiments were initially rejected by his peers, Forssmann persisted. In 1956, his efforts were rewarded when he won the Nobel Prize for his work in the new field of cardiac catheterization.
Today, catheters are made of plastic that meets standards as surgical-grade (i.e., the plastic is stored and shipped in ultra-clean containers before being formed into catheters and antiseptically packaged).
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