transseptal catheterization

catheterization /cath·e·ter·iza·tion/ (kath″ĕ-ter-ĭ-za´shun) passage of a catheter into a body channel or cavity.

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cardiac catheterization  passage of a small catheter through a vein in an arm or leg or the neck and into the heart, permitting the securing of blood samples, determination of intracardiac pressure, detection of cardiac anomalies, planning of operative approaches, and determination, implementation, or evaluation of appropriate therapy.

retrograde catheterization  passage of a cardiac catheter against the direction of blood flow and into the heart.

transseptal catheterization  passage of a cardiac catheter through the right atrium into the left atrium, performed to relieve valve obstruction and in techniques such as balloon mitral valvuloplasty.

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transseptal catheterization

Cardiology A method used to measure the left atrial and left ventricular pressure and for percutaneous mitral balloon valvoplasty, catheter ablation of accessory–electrical pathways on the left side of the heart, and for evaluation of complex hemodynamics. See Cardiac catheterization.