PITTSBURGH -- Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, making its diagnosis crucial to saving lives.
One of the most common procedures is a cardiac catheterization, with more than one million done per year.
About 99 percent are done through an artery in the groin, but that lone 1 percent is now being performed through an artery in the wrist.
Cardiac patient Bill Sherman had a catheterization and stent put in a blocked artery after suffering a heart attack.
Chest pain has forced Sherman to return to the doctor, but this time around the catheter that will check his heart will go through his wrist.
"For one thing, they thought it would be less painful, be less of a recovery time, less bleeding," said Sherman. "If the proper technique is used by a well-trained physician, it is a very nice alternative."
Dr. Tony Farah, the medical director of Allegheny General Hospital's Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories, trained Dr. Ramzi Khalil in the wrist catheterization procedure that he will perform on Sherman.
Farah said the learning curve for such a procedure is steeper, but has its advantages.
"It becomes easier on the patient and easier on the doctors too. The caveat is not anyone should start doing this," said Farah.
After finding two arteries open, Khalil checked Sherman's stent, finding that a blocked artery was not the cause of his chest pain.
Farah said the wrist procedure is trickier and there is a risk of damaging a nerve.
With a groin catheterization, the patient has to remain still for several hours and a there is a greater chance of bleeding complications after the patient leaves.
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