The Hemodynamic Laboratory meets all patients’ diagnostic and therapeutic needs whenever required, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It features two state-of-the-art, fully equipped laboratories with advanced angiography systems and the latest-generation digital coronary angiography technology, as well as pioneering three-dimensional (3D) mapping recording systems that allow real-time visualization of both cardiac structure and local electrocardiographic activity.
The Department is internationally recognized for its exceptionally low complication rates following coronary angiography and angioplasty, a distinction primarily attributed to:
- its team of highly trained and distinguished interventional cardiologists, supported by experienced nursing and technical staff
- the strict establishment and implementation of advanced nursing protocols
The following diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are performed:
- Diagnostic coronary angiography
- Comprehensive hemodynamic studies
- Diagnostic intravascular ultrasound
- Pericardiocentesis
- Endomyocardial biopsies
- Coronary balloon angioplasty
- Coronary stent implantation
- Coronary atherectomy (Rotablation)
- Balloon valvuloplasty
- Balloon pericardiotomy
- Percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects
- Emergency angioplasty in cases of acute myocardial infarction
The Department is among the few centers in Greece performing:
- Treatment of severely calcified coronary artery stenoses using the pioneering Shockwave technique (coronary intravascular lithotripsy) in cases where conventional angioplasty techniques are unable to restore vessel patency. Our Center was among the first three in Greece to successfully apply this technique, achieving excellent clinical outcomes in cases where other interventional approaches had failed.
- Rotablation
- Percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects/paravalvular leaks
- Valvuloplasty procedures
Acute cardiac events (heart attacks) are treated with angioplasty on a 24-hour emergency basis.
Operating Hours: Monday – Friday, 07:00–15:00
Contact Numbers: +30 210 650 2518-2519
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Center - TAVI
Metropolitan General is one of the few officially recognized and certified centers in Greece performing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI), a minimally invasive procedure for aortic valve replacement without open-heart surgery.
The TAVI procedure involves implanting a new valve in place of the damaged aortic valve without removing it, using a catheter-based technique. This method is intended primarily for elderly patients with multiple comorbidities. The procedure is applied only in cases of aortic valve stenosis and never for valve insufficiency. General anesthesia is not required.
The procedure is usually performed either through the femoral artery without opening the chest or via a transapical approach following a small thoracotomy, always without stopping the heart or circulation. The intervention lasts approximately two hours; hospital stay is around five days, and patients typically return to full activity within one week.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is performed exclusively in patients who are not suitable candidates for surgery or who are considered at high surgical risk for complications.
Our Center was the first in Greece to introduce and apply the cerebral protection technique during TAVI procedures, using the innovative Sentinel protection device/filter to help prevent embolic strokes that may occur during the intervention.