The Heart Care Center of Northwest Houston offers the spectrum of Clinical Cardiac Services, ranging from preventative services to Radionuclide Angiography.
At the core of each clinical subsection is a devotion to optimizing patient outcomes by bringing highly trained staff, state-of-the-art technology, and cutting edge techniques to the patient suffering from cardiovascular disease.
Some of our Cardiac Services include the following:
Cardiac catheterization
Cardiac catheterization (cardiac cath or heart cath) is a procedure to examine how well your heart is working. A thin, hollow tube called a catheter is inserted into a large blood vessel that leads to your heart.
Angioplasty
Angioplasty, also known as percutaneous intervention, is a procedure in which a thin tube called a catheter is threaded into the heart with a deflated balloon at the tip. The balloon is then inflated to open spots where blood flow has been reduced or blocked. While doing an angioplasty, doctors may also implant a mesh tube called a stent to help prop open the artery, reducing the chance of another blockage. Another type of angioplasty is a laser angioplasty; instead of a balloon, the catheter carries a laser tip that sends pulsating beams of light to clear blockages.
Stent
A stent is a wire mesh tube that's inserted into a narrowed coronary artery to prop it open, prevent re-blockage and allow the heart muscle to get the blood flow and oxygen it needs. A stent can also be placed in narrowed carotid arteries (the vessels in the front of the neck that supply blood to the brain) to treat patients at high risk for stroke.
Permanent pacemakers
An artificial pacemaker is an electrical device implanted to keep a heart beating at the right speed and rhythm. It is needed when a person’s natural pacemaker either doesn’t work properly or the impulse is not transmitted adequately to the ventricles for the heart to contract. Pacemakers are typically used for hearts that beat too slowly or irregularly.