The Subject of Angiography - Article Example

So the efficiency of venography and arteriography largely depends on time account. Apart from conventional angiography, Magnetic Resonance and CT scanning also are widely used imaging techniques.MRA is ideal for heart imaging rather than a full-body scan because of the technical problems arising from it. However, TOF MRA is a scanning method that can be applied to any organ of the body while MRA is widely used for scrutinizing the aorta and arteries of the heart. Another popular imaging technique is CT angiography wherein the heart can be imaged using non -invasive method. CT angiography (CTA) is an established minimally invasive tool for imaging most major vessels in the body. These medicinal imaging techniques can be studied more specifically to understand their practicality.

Fig 1 : Intraarterial digital substractiom

Angiography in a detail
Angiography being the conventional imaging technique was invented in the early 20th century. It is used mainly to visualize the aorta, arteries, and blood vessels of the heart and it is an invasive method of imaging the heart. However, duplex ultrasonography being inexpensive has been advantageous to the medical world in many ways. Angiography has evolved throughout decades and has been developed into many other technical devices for refined usage. Intraarterial digital subtraction which is DSA supplanted by CT and MRA has progressed the status of Imaging techniques in the cardiology field. Further, newer technology like CT and MRI have been turning points in the diagnostic world and have also led to the abandonment of Angiographic imaging techniques to an extent.

In the same manner, Percutaneous intra- arterial angiography is sonography done with the aid of DSA where a mask image containing the whole anatomy of the heart is extracted. However, discrepancies can happen in the artery detailing, if the patient moves while the imaging technique is executed. The imaging technique can give faltering results in case the patient suffers peristalsis in the bowel. Here, vascular surgery is conducted with the imaging results stored for further processing and with the assistance of DSA. Alternatively, studies are being conducted regarding the versatility of  MRA in comparison with gadolinium-enhanced ‘gold standard’ of intra-arterial DSA. A negative feature of DSA is that it fails to detect the lesions in the heart as it is a two-dimensional imaging technique.

It is interesting to acknowledge that, angiography as a medical imaging technique has several branches to it. They can be exceptionally classified as x-ray angiogram, digital subtraction angiography, Computerized tomography angiography (CTA)  Magnetic Resonance angiogram, Time of flight MRA (TOF MRA), Phase-contrast magnetic resonance angiogram Contrast-enhanced, magnetic resonance angiogram(CEMRA), Arteriogram for aorta and peripheral vessels, Renal angiogram. Among these, TOF MRA is the well-known and versatile manner of imaging technique wherein every area of the body is covered. While MRA is commonly used for the analysis of aorta, thrombosis or obstruction of superior vena caves’- ray angiograms are used in alignment with iodinated contrast agents under fluoroscopy. Digital subtraction angiography is fluoroscopic in nature and is performed to visualize blood vessels using non – ionic contrasting agents.

Fig 2: Renal Angiography

CTA is another imaging technique in which the arterial and venous vessels throughout the body are pictured. Intravenously, contrast media is injected which gives images that have the high temporal solution and can be altered into various anatomical planes with the aid of volume rendering technique. Another imaging technique is MRA which is a non-invasive way of imaging for scrutinizing extracranial and intracranial vessel systems. As per I & TP (2012, pg.1-6)“Phase-contrast (PC) MRAgenerate an image by applying a bipolar velocity-encoding gradient during the pulse sequence twice in opposing directions, which results in a net phase change of zero in stationary tissues, while applying a phase change in moving blood, producing a signal”. In the same manner, CEMRA is another form of imaging technique where the contracting agency is used and worked in conjunction with MRA. In the same manner, an arteriogram is another imaging technique used to visualize aorta and abdominal arteries. Last but not least, a renal angiogram is efficient in giving out images of the renal artery.