Heart Biopsies

Heart biopsies help your doctors determine how well you are adjusting to a heart transplant. They can also show if you suffer from certain heart conditions.

What are heart biopsies?

In a heart biopsy, doctors remove a small sample of heart muscle and send it to a lab for analysis.

We perform a cardiac catheterization procedure to access the tissue needed for the biopsy. We guide a catheter through your groin to one side of your heart and remove three heart muscle tissue samples. Then, we send them to the lab for examination.

Why do I need a heart biopsy?

Generally, we perform a heart biopsy to make sure your body is not rejecting a newly transplanted heart. We also perform a heart biopsy if we suspect you may have cardiac carcinoma or signs of other heart conditions, such as:

• Cardiomyopathy
• Myocarditis

Learn more about the diagnostic procedures we perform at MedStar Heart Institute.

Location:
MedStar Heart Institute
Cardiac Catheterization Lab
110 Irving Street, NW
Washington, DC 20010

For information or appointments, please call DOCtorsLine at 202-877-DOCS (3627).