The CT scans, like the cardiac catheterization, utilize IV dye and can potentially damage the kidneys as well.

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Patients with a positive coronary CT scan would then require a cardiac catheterization, with possible angioplasty and stent placement.

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Physicians are also experimenting with robotic devices that will allow doctors to perform complicated procedures, including cardiac catheterization, at a distance.

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Today, the cardiologist said, she would get a stress test, an echocardiogram, a mobile Holter monitor, and maybe even a cardiac catheterization.

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"This really is an insurance policy for him, " said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Cheney's personal cardiologist and head of the hospital's cardiac catheterization lab.

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However, efforts to deliver primary PCI to the broadest possible population inevitably result in an increased number of false-positive activations of the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

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Additional tests may include a nuclear stress test to assess for blockages in the coronary arteries, and if positive, a cardiac catheterization, an invasive test which involves threading a thin wire into the heart to assess for blockages in the coronary arteries as well.

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