Library · Test
Cerebral angiography
Make it clearer
Cerebral angiography is a test for looking at the blood vessels of the brain and the ones around it. It is ordered when one of them is suspected of having a problem.
The trick is that vessels do not show up on their own on an X-ray. So a catheter, a thin hollow tube, is inserted into an artery and threaded carefully up to an artery in the neck. The contrast material, a liquid that does block X-rays, is injected there, and X-rays are taken as it moves along. The contrast works like ink, making visible only the path it travels.
And there is a version that cleans up the picture even more. When the computer erases the bone and the tissue from the image and leaves only the contrast-filled vessels, the test is called digital subtraction angiography.
In brief
Cerebral angiography is used mainly to identify or confirm problems with the blood vessels in and around the brain.
A catheter is threaded up an artery to the neck; the contrast material is injected there and X-rays are taken as it travels through the brain's vessels.
The contrast works like ink, making visible only the path it travels.
When the computer erases bone and tissue and leaves only the contrast-filled vessels, it is called digital subtraction angiography.
Sources (1)
- MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of MedicineCerebral angiography, MedlinePlus Medical EncyclopediaPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated