Which diagnostic test helps assess/diagnose coronary artery disease and involves placing a catheter in the heart?

Which diagnostic test helps assess/diagnose coronary artery disease and involves placing a catheter in the heart?

• A. Urinalysis
• B. Cardiac catheterization
• C. Electroencephalography
• D. Magnetic resonance imaging

Answer: (B)

The important concept here is an invasive diagnostic method that directly visualizes the coronary arteries to diagnose coronary artery disease. Cardiac catheterization involves threading a catheter through a peripheral artery into the heart. A contrast dye is injected and the arteries are imaged with fluoroscopy to reveal any blockages. This procedure also allows measurement of pressures inside the heart and can assess the severity and location of disease, helping guide treatment decisions such as angioplasty or bypass surgery. Urinalysis has nothing to do with heart arteries. Electroencephalography examines brain electrical activity, not the heart. Magnetic resonance imaging can image the heart noninvasively but does not require placing a catheter into the heart, so it isn’t the test described. Therefore, the test that involves placing a catheter in the heart to assess or diagnose coronary artery disease is cardiac catheterization.

The important concept here is an invasive diagnostic method that directly visualizes the coronary arteries to diagnose coronary artery disease. Cardiac catheterization involves threading a catheter through a peripheral artery into the heart. A contrast dye is injected and the arteries are imaged with fluoroscopy to reveal any blockages. This procedure also allows measurement of pressures inside the heart and can assess the severity and location of disease, helping guide treatment decisions such as angioplasty or bypass surgery.

Urinalysis has nothing to do with heart arteries. Electroencephalography examines brain electrical activity, not the heart. Magnetic resonance imaging can image the heart noninvasively but does not require placing a catheter into the heart, so it isn’t the test described. Therefore, the test that involves placing a catheter in the heart to assess or diagnose coronary artery disease is cardiac catheterization.