TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement in Interventional Cardiology A1 - Anderson, H. Vernon A2 - Samady, Habib A2 - Fearon, William F. A2 - Yeung, Alan C. A2 - King III, Spencer B. PY - 2017 T2 - Interventional Cardiology, 2e AB - Interventional cardiology consists of several related procedures that are performed in the coronary, peripheral, and cerebral vascular systems, as well as the central aorta, the cardiac valves, and the structural units (parenchyma) of the heart itself. Almost all of the procedures are performed under radiographic fluoroscopic guidance in a cardiac catheterization laboratory (cath lab), or sometimes a “hybrid” laboratory that can also function as a surgical operating room. Often the fluoroscopic imaging is complemented with intravascular ultrasound, transthoracic or intracardiac echocardiography, and rotational computed tomographic angiography (CTA). Thus, the modern cath lab is a complex, highly technologically sophisticated facility where both patients with chronic, stable conditions as well as patients with life-threatening illnesses are evaluated and treated. Therefore, it is essential to have an active quality assurance and improvement (QA/QI) program in place. This program will need to consider all aspects of the risks encountered by patients undergoing procedures in the cath lab, as well as by staff working there. This will of course include radiation risk and methodologies for reducing it. However, radiation risk is an extensive subject on its own and will not be covered in this chapter. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accesscardiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1146607582 ER -