A cardiac catheterization laboratory is not just an angiographic suite.
When I began my cardiology training in 1965, my instructors in the cardiac catheterization laboratory made it clear to me that many things other than anatomic assessment by angiography could be accomplished in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. For example, at that time cardiac output, pressure gradients, valvar insufficiency, shunts, assessment of contractility, assessment of myocardial blood flow using radioactive techniques, lactate metabolism, and assessment of ventricular function were the principal physiologic parameters measured.
Richard Conti
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D000818:Animals; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002309:Cardiology / Q000193:education*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000458:organization & administration*