Coronary angiogram

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Risks

By Mayo Clinic staff

As 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
  1. 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.
  2. Angiogram. Society for Vascular Surgery. http://www.vascularweb.org/vascularhealth/Pages/angiogram.aspx. Accessed Dec. 16, 2010.
  3. Cardiac catheterization. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cath/cath_all.html. Accessed Dec. 14, 2010.
  4. Coronary angiography. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ca/ca_all.html. Accessed Dec. 14, 2010.
  5. 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.
MY00541 Feb. 17, 2011

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