In a right-heart catheterization, otherwise called pulmonary artery catheterization, the doctor guides a special catheter (a small, hollow tube) called a pulmonary artery (PA) catheter to the right side of the heart. He then passes the tube into the pulmonary artery. This is the main artery that carries blood to the lungs. The doctor obtained oxygen saturations in the different chambers and measures the pressures inside the heart and lungs.

Your doctor may do a right-heart catheterization to evaluate your heart function, and to measure the pressures in your heart and lungs. Your cardiac output—the amount of blood your heart pumps per minute—is also determined during a right-heart cath.

Right heart catheterization is used to diagnose or manage:

• Heart failure : A condition in which your heart muscle has become weaker or stiffer, it can't pump blood efficiently. This causes fluid buildup (congestion) in your blood vessels and lungs. Fluid may also buildup in your feet, ankles, and other parts of your body.
• Shock : This causes reduced flow of blood and oxygen to the tissues of your body. Sudden onset of heart failure, infection of your blood stream (sepsis), or blood loss (hemorrhagic) can cause shock.
• Congenital heart disease: These are many birth defects that develop in the heart. This can cause the heart to underperform and cause symptoms.
• Heart valve disease : Malfunction in one or more of your heart valves may interfere with normal blood flow within your heart.
• Cardiomyopathy : This is an enlargement of your heart due to thickening or weakening of your heart muscle. It can eventually lead to heart failure.
• Pulmonary hypertension : Increased pressures in the blood vessels in your lungs. This can lead to right-sided heart failure and worsening of the symptoms.

Angiogram is used to determine whether plaque has blocked the blood vessels. During this test, which requires local anesthesia, a doctor makes a small incision in the skin near the groin or arm, inserts a thin tube, and guides it into an artery. The doctor moves the catheter to the area to be examined and injects an iodine contrast dye that highlights any narrow, enlarged, or blocked blood vessels.

During atherectomy, a revolving instrument is introduced via a catheter and used to break up calcified plaque that is clogging a coronary artery. The device gently pulverizing the blockage into tiny particles that can pass safely through the bloodstream. Breaking up the plaque restores blood flow to the heart. The technique is used when blockages are particularly difficult to remove.

Thin tube with ultrasound at the tip, passes through your mouth, down your throat and into your esophagus and upper stomach. Because the esophagus is so close to the upper chambers of the heart, very clear images of those heart structures and valves can be obtained. Due to better resolution, it is used to evaluate clot, valve and heart function and blood flow.

Abnormal heart rhythms are called arrhythmias can impair blood flow to your heart and brain. Cardioversion is a way to restore a regular rhythm. Electrical cardioversions restore regular rhythms by resetting the rhythm.

We are all born with a hole in the wall between the left and right atria called the foramen ovale. This hole allows blood to bypass the lungs while in utero. After birth, the foramen ovale closes, and within a few months it has sealed completely in most humans. When it remains open, it is called a patent foramen ovale (PFO). For the vast majority of the millions of people with a PFO, it is not a problem and does not require any treatment, even though blood is leaking from the right atrium to the left. Problems can arise when that blood contains a blood clot. To prevent strokes and embolisation, patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure devices are used to close the hole (prevent the flap from opening). The device becomes a permanent implant.

In certain medical conditions, major clots can form in the extremities ( called Deep venous thrombosis) and in other veins of the body. They can travel to the lungs and compromise blood flow and oxygenation. Thrombectomy and Thrombolysis helps to remove those clots and improve blood flow to the pulmonary arteries.

Blood clots in the extremities can impair blood flow and cause chronic venous stasis problems. Removal of them, in appropriate clinical scenarios, helps to restore better blood flow in the veins and prevent long term complications of stasis.