ENDOMYOCARDIAL BIOPSY |
An endomyocardial biopsy is a procedure to obtain a small piece of heart muscle tissue for analysis under a microscope. It is performed quite rarely. It is generally done to determine if the patient has certain rare disorders of the heart muscle that are treated in a different fashion from the usual way heart failure is treated. Such disorders include myocarditis, sarcoidosis, hemachromatosis, amyloidosis, as well as rejection of a heart transplant.
The procedure is performed by placing a local anesthetic into the skin on the right side of the neck. A special type of catheter called a biopsy tome is then placed into a vein in the neck and advanced into the heart. There, small pieces of the tissue are grasped by the end of the catheter. These pieces of tissue are then examined under a microscope. The patient is usually discharged from the hospital later that same day and return to their normal activities the following day.
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