Diagnostic & Interventional Procedures

We offer access to the latest, most innovative diagnostic and interventional procedures for heart and vascular issues.

At Overlake, our Interventional Cardiology Program is renowned for using catheterization and other innovative techniques to diagnose and treat heart and vascular problems. These interventional procedures are faster, less invasive and easier to recover from than open-heart surgery. 

Diagnostic tests and procedures

We offer a wide variety of diagnostic tests and procedures, including: 

• Coronary angiography, which uses a dye and X-rays to detect blockages in your heart’s arteries. 
• Catheterization, which uses thin tubes inside the heart to measure blood flow, pressure and oxygen in the circulation.
• Ultrasound, which uses sound waves to take pictures of artery walls.
• Pressure wires, which are tiny sensors that are threaded into arteries and use to assess blood pressure and blood flow. 
• Nuclear cardiac imaging, which uses radioactive substances to evaluate how well your heart is working.
• Electrophysiology studies, which can use catheters to evaluate the electrical activity that controls your heartbeat.  

Interventional procedures

Our team uses the latest interventional technologies and minimally invasive approaches to help patients overcome heart and vascular issues. Our procedures include: 

• Alcohol septal ablation, a minimally invasive procedure that can relieve symptoms of an inherited condition in which the heart muscle is very thick (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).
• Coronary angioplasty including balloon angioplasty, a procedure that uses tiny balloons to open narrowed blood vessels.
  • We were one of three hospitals in the region that was recognized for superior performance for patients undergoing coronary angioplasty. This recognition came from the Cardiac Care Outcomes Assessment Program, which monitors the quality of adult cardiac care across hospitals in the Pacific Northwest.
• Cardiac ablation, which is used to correct problems with the heart rhythm.
• Complex coronary therapeutics, to overcome artery blockages through percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), to repair aortic valves with fewer risks and complications than open-heart surgery. 
• Transcatheter mitral valve repair to reduce leaking of the mitral valve. 
• Thrombectomy, to remove blood clots.
• Stents, or narrow pieces of mesh that are inserted to keep an opened blood vessel from narrowing again. 
• Atherectomy, a catheter-based procedure that removes fatty plaque from the lining of the arteries. 
• Cardiac ablation, which is used to correct problems with the heart’s rhythm.
• Cardiac resynchronization therapy, which uses a pacemaker to improve the heart’s pumping power. 
• Defibrillator/pacemakers, which are implanted help with electrical problems in the heart.
• Lithotripsy, which uses sound waves to break up plaque lining the arteries.
• Percutaneous septal-wall defect repair, which uses catheters to repair holes between chambers of the heart.
• Percutaneous valvuloplasty, which uses balloons to open narrowed heart valves.
• Balloon pumps, which are mechanical devices that help the heart pump blood.
• Impella devices, which can temporarily help the left side of the heart pump blood.