Department of Health | Health Care Quality Assessment

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Visit the report submissions page to submit mandatory cardiac catheterization reporting.

About Cardiac Catheterization

During cardiac catheterization, the physician inserts a thin plastic tube (catheter) into an artery or vein in the patient’s arm or leg, and advances it into the heart or coronary arteries.

This can be a diagnostic procedure, used by the physician to gather important diagnostic information. For example, the test can measure blood pressure in the heart, measure the amount of oxygen that is in the blood, and learn more about the heart’s pumping ability.

The physician can also use a catheter to inject dye into the bloodstream to evaluate damage to the arteries. This is called coronary angiography or coronary arteriography.

Catheterization procedures are considered interventional when they are used to treat certain heart conditions, such as a blocked coronary artery. For example, catheters with a balloon on the tip can be used to open a blocked coronary artery in a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which is also referred to as angioplasty.

Once the artery is open, the physician can deliver a device called a stent through the catheter and place it in the artery to keep it open.
These and other interventional procedures have become increasingly common methods of treating coronary artery disease.

Both diagnostic and interventional catheterization procedures may be used to evaluate and treat congenital heart defects in infants and children.

Cardiac Catheterization

New Jersey hospitals that operate a cardiac catheterization laboratory are required to report data on each patient undergoing catheterization. This includes both diagnostic and interventional catheterization procedures.

The information is collected in the department’s Cardiac Catheterization Registries, and used both to assess compliance with licensing standards and to monitor cardiac catheterization trends.

The department licenses all cardiac catheterization laboratories in one of four categories. These categories determine the types of procedures the lab may perform and the types of patients they may treat.

Currently in New Jersey, as in most states, only emergency angioplasty may be performed in licensed labs without cardiac surgery back-up.

Cardiac Catheterization and Angioplasty data from 2011 onward is available below. Data for 2010 and earlier years can be found in the Archives.

Cardiac Data Registries

Cardiac Catheterization and Cardiac Surgery by Hospital

Primary Angioplasty Reports

Regulations

Regulations governing Cardiac Diagnostic Facilities and Cardiac Surgery Centers, Certificate of Need, and Hospital Licensing, as well as related forms, applications and instructions are available from the Certificate of Need and Healthcare Facility Licensure program.

Cardiac Catheterization Licensing Categories

Low-Risk Labs – May perform only diagnostic procedures, and only on low-risk patients as defined in regulation.
Full-Service Diagnostic Labs – May perform only diagnostic procedures, but on any medically stable patient.
Primary Angioplasty Center – May perform diagnostic procedures and one interventional procedure – angioplasty – to open up a blocked coronary artery on patients having heart attacks.
Cardiac Catheterization Labs in Cardiac Surgery Centers – May perform all diagnostic and interventional procedures on any type of patient.