When therapeutic catheterization is performed electively (planned) to treat a patient’s condition it can prolong (in some cases) the patient's life and improve quality of life.

Therapeutic catheterization (called percutaneous coronary intervention – PCI) is considered the best practice in interventional cardiology for coronary heart disease.

Once the cardiologist performs the diagnostic catheterization to diagnose the patient’s condition and map out each problem, the cardiologist performs the therapeutic catheterization, hopefully in a single procedure.

In some instances, the cardiologist can perform a "virtual catheterization" using only a cardiac CT scan, which may provide enough information to proceed with the therapeutic catheterization.

Therapeutic catheterization is a short, painless procedure, performed under local anesthesia and light sedation. The cardiologist inserts a very thin tube into the patient's artery, through a groin or wrist artery. Guided by state-of-the-art imaging, the cardiologist threads the catheter through the arteries to the heart. During the procedure, the cardiologist opens constrictions and blockages in the arteries and/or implants a heart valve.