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Risks
By Mayo Clinic staffAs with most procedures done on your heart and blood vessels, coronary angiogram has some risks. Major complications are rare, though. Potential risks and complications include:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Injury to the catheterized artery
- Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
- Allergic reactions to the dye or medications used during the procedure
- A tear in your heart or artery
- Kidney damage
- Excessive bleeding
- Infection
- Blood clots
- Radiation exposure from the X-rays
References
- Eastwood J. Nurse's role in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. In: Moser DK, et al. Cardiac Nursing: A companion to Braunwald's heart disease. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:339.
- Angiogram. Society for Vascular Surgery. http://www.vascularweb.org/vascularhealth/Pages/angiogram.aspx. Accessed Dec. 16, 2010.
- Cardiac catheterization. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cath/cath_all.html. Accessed Dec. 14, 2010.
- Coronary angiography. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ca/ca_all.html. Accessed Dec. 14, 2010.
- Kern MJ, et al. Physiological assessment of coronary artery disease in the cardiac catheterization laboratory: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Committee on Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiac Catheterization, Council on Clinical Cardiology. Circulation. 2006;114:1321.
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