Saturday, 30 June 2012
What is CT angiography?
What is CT angiography?
Angiography is a minimally invasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Angiography uses one of three imaging technologies and, in some cases, a contrast material to produce pictures of major blood vessels throughout the body.
Angiography is performed using:
- x-rays with catheters
- computed tomography (CT)
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
CT imaging uses special x-ray equipment to produce multiple images and a computer to join them together in multidimensional views. In CT angiography (CTA), a contrast material (also known as "dye") is injected into a vein to produce detailed images of both blood vessels and tissues.
Friday, 29 June 2012
Pulmonary angiography
Pulmonary angiography
Pulmonary, or lung, angiography is performed to evaluate blood circulation to the lungs. It is also considered the most accurate diagnostic test for detecting a pulmonary embolism. The procedure differs from cerebral and coronary angiograms in that the guide wire and catheter are inserted into a vein instead of an artery, and are guided up through the chambers of the heart and into the pulmonary artery. Throughout the procedure, the patient's vital signs are monitored to ensure that the catheter doesn't cause arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats. The contrast medium is then injected into the pulmonary artery where it circulates through the lung capillaries. The test typically takes up to 90 minutes.
Cerebral angiography
Cerebral angiography
Cerebral angiography is used to detect aneurysms, blood clots, and other vascular irregularities in the brain. The catheter is inserted into the femoral or carotid artery and the injected contrast medium travels through the blood vessels on the brain. Patients frequently experience headache, warmth, or a burning sensation in the head or neck during the injection portion of the procedure. A cerebral angiogram takes two to four hours to complete.
Fluorescein angiography
Fluorescein angiography
Fluorescein angiography is used to diagnose retinal problems and circulatory disorders. It is typically conducted as an outpatient procedure. The patient's pupils are dilated with eye drops and he rests his chin and forehead against a bracing apparatus to keep it still. Sodium fluorescein dye is then injected with a syringe into a vein in the patient's arm. The dye will travel through the patient's body and into the blood vessels of the eye. The procedure does not require x rays. Instead, a rapid series of close-up photographs of the patient's eyes are taken, one set immediately after the dye is injected, and a second set approximately 20 minutes later once the dye has moved through the patient's vascular system. The entire procedure takes up to one hour.
Kidney angiography
Kidney angiography
Patients with chronic renal disease or injury can suffer further damage to their kidneys from the contrast medium used in a kidney angiogram, yet they often require the test to evaluate kidney function. These patients should be well-hydrated with a intravenous saline drip before the procedure, and may benefit from available medications (e.g., dopamine) that help to protect the kidney from further injury due to contrast agents. During a kidney angiogram, the guide wire and catheter are inserted into the femoral artery in the groin area and advanced through the abdominal aorta, the main artery in the abdomen, and into the renal arteries. The procedure will take approximately one hour.
Coronary angiography
Coronary angiography
Coronary angiography is administered by a cardiologist with training in radiology or, occasionally, by a radiologist. The arterial puncture is typically given in the femoral artery, and the cardiologist uses a guide wire and catheter to perform a contrast injection and x-ray series on the coronary arteries. The catheter may also be placed in the left ventricle to examine the mitral and aortic valves of the heart. If the cardiologist requires a view of the right ventricle of the heart or of the tricuspid or pulmonic valves, the catheter will be inserted through a large vein and guided into the right ventricle. The catheter also serves the purpose of monitoring blood pressures in these different locations inside the heart. The angiogram procedure takes several hours, depending on the complexity of the procedure.
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Coronary angiography
Coronary angiography is a procedure that uses a special dye (contrast material) and x-rays to see how blood flows through your heart.
Arteriogram
n arteriogram is an imaging test that uses x-rays and a special dye to see inside the arteries. It can be used to see arteries in the heart, brain, kidney, and many other parts of the body.
The procedure is often called angiography.
See also:
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Video:What Is a Coronary Angiography?
Video:What Is a Coronary Angiography?
An angiography tests for plaque in the coronary arteries. Learn more about what happens during a coronary angiography.
Catheter Angiography
Catheter Angiography
- What is Catheter Angiography?
- What are some common uses of the procedure?
- How should I prepare?
- What does the equipment look like?
- How does the procedure work?
- How is the procedure performed?
- What will I experience during and after the procedure?
- Who interprets the results and how do I get them?
- What are the benefits vs. risks?
- What are the limitations of Catheter Angiography?
Monday, 25 June 2012
What is Angiography?
What is Angiography?
Angiography is the imaging of blood vessels using water-soluble ionic or nonionic X ray contrast media injected into the blood stream of arteries (arteriography) or veins (venography). For lymph vessels, oily contrast media are used.
Angiography serves to investigate normal and pathological states of the vessel system particularly luminal narrowing and obstruction or aneurysmal widening. Furthermore tumour conditions, arteriovenous malformations (AVM) and arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) or sources of bleeding are investigated with angiography. Complications are low but differ somewhat according to vessel access. In the arterial system, the lowest complication rates are reported for the femoral access with 1.73%, 2.98% for translumbar arteriography, and highest for the transaxillary approach with 3.23%. These complications will result mainly from local problems such as haematoma, pseudoaneurysms and arteriovenous fistulae, etc., or from guide wire and catheter manipulation. The second group of complications comprises side effects of the contrast material on renal function and systemic effects or allergic reactions.
Today, images are taken mainly with digital subtraction techniques (digital subtraction angiography DSA), however, single shot or fast series may also be taken with rapid film changers, in cine mode (cine angiography for coronary arteries) or as digital video recordings directly from the image intensifier screen.
Injection of contrast material into arteries and veins is performed either directly via a needle puncture or using a percutaneously inserted angiographic catheter most commonly made from polyethylene, polyurethane or nylon. Contrast injection is done by hand (mainly in direct needle puncture or in small caliber arteries) or with a power injector.
A specific terminology is derived from 1) the organ to be imaged, e.g. coronary, cerebral, renal, hepatic angiography, 2) the vessel area, e.g. aortography, peripheral angiography, cavography, 3) from the chosen method of access to the desired vessel or organ area, e.g. direct arterio/venography or catheter arterio/venography, and 4) the choice of vessel access, e.g. transfemoral, transaxillary, brachial, translumbar and direct or indirect splenoportography. All these various terms may be used in a combination such as super-selective transfemoral hepatic arteriography, which means the catheter has been advanced into at least a second degree branch of the hepatic artery from a femoral approach.
Angiographic studies are routinely performed under local anaesthesia. After infiltration of the skin and the tissue around the artery or vein to be punctured, a small skin incision is made, and the artery is punctured with an angiographic needle. For percutaneous catheter insertion, the Seldinger technique is used.
What Is Coronary Angiography?
What Is Coronary Angiography?
Overview
During coronary angiography, special dye is released into the bloodstream. The dye makes the coronary arteries visible on x-ray pictures. This helps doctors see blockages in the arteries.
A procedure called cardiac catheterization (KATH-eh-ter-ih-ZA-shun) is used to get the dye into the coronary arteries.
For this procedure, a thin, flexible tube called a catheter is put into a blood vessel in your arm, groin (upper thigh), or neck. The tube is threaded into your coronary arteries, and the dye is released into your bloodstream. X-ray pictures are taken while the dye is flowing through the coronary arteries.
Cardiologists (heart specialists) usually do cardiac catheterization in a hospital. You're awake during the procedure, and it causes little or no pain. However, you may feel some soreness in the blood vessel where the catheter was inserted.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Saturday, 2 June 2012
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