Angiogram
From Marfan Friends World Wiki
Angiography, sometimes known as arteriography, is a special form of X-ray examination that shows the blood flow in your arteries and veins. This allows the area of investigation, such as your heart, kidneys, legs and brain, to be looked at in closer detail. A special dye (known as a contrast medium) is injected into the bloodstream which shows up when the X-ray is taken.
Angiography shows whether blood vessels are narrow, irregular or blocked. It detects any diseases that change the appearance of the blood vessel channel. For example, atherosclerosis, which causes fatty substances or 'plaques' to be deposited in the inner lining of the artery, reducing the blood flow.
Angiography may be used to check the state of the coronary arteries of the heart. In this case it is used to identify the sites of narrowing or blockage in arteries, so that these may be treated by balloon angioplasty or, if necessary, by a coronary artery bypass operation.
The procedure can reveal any blood clots (thrombosis), which can block vessels, or any bulge in an artery caused by a weak blood vessel wall (aneurysm). Angiography can detect the development of clumps of new vessels and other abnormal patterns that suggest tumours, cysts, congenital defects or an injury to any internal organ.
