Angiogram : Coronary Angiography and Coronary Angioplasty

Angiogram

Angiogram is a special contrast X ray and can be used to detect an abnormality in a blood vessel such as a narrowing of a large diseased artery.

Coronary Angiography

Coronary angiography is used to image the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood. Angiography can image narrowed or blocked coronary arteries, which are not visible on a normal X-ray. A local anesthesia is injected and a fine flexible catheter is passed within the femoral artery, through the aorta and into a coronary artery. A contrast dye is injected through the catheter and a series of x rays taken. The procedure is painless.

Coronary Angioplasty

Coronary angioplasty is an operation done to clear flow of blood when the coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked by fatty deposits with the help of a baloon catheter. Under local anesthesia, a guide wire is inserted through the femoral artery in the groin and up into the affected coronary artery. A baloon catheter is passed up the wire and the baloon is inflated in the narrowed area to widen it. Sometimes, a metal tube called a stent is inserted afterward. It keeps the artery open.

Coronary bypass surgery is an operation to circumvent narrowed or blocked coronary arteries by grafting additional blood vessels to transmit blood flow. During this procedure the heart is temporarily stopped and blood circulation and oxygenation is taken over by a heart lung machine.