Blood vessels do not show clearly on a normal X-ray, so a special dye needs to be injected into your blood first
This highlights your blood vessels, allowing your doctor to see any problems
The X-ray images created during angiography are called angiograms
Angiography is generally a safe and painless procedure
But for a few days or weeks afterwards it&#s common to have:
- bruising
- soreness
- a very small lump or collection of blood near where the cut was made
There&#s also a very small risk of more serious complications, such as an allergic reaction to the dye, a stroke or a heart attack
There are several different types of angiography, depending on which part of the body is being looked at
Common types include:
- coronary angiography &ndash to check the heart and nearby blood vessels
- cerebral angiography &ndash to check the blood vessels in and around the brain
- pulmonary angiography &ndash to check the blood vessels supplying the lungs
- renal angiography &ndash to check the blood vessels supplying the kidneys
Occasionally, angiography may be done using scans instead of X-rays These are called CT angiography or MRI angiography
There&#s also a type of angiography that&#s used to check the eyes, called fluorescein angiography It&#s different to the other types of angiography and is not covered in this topic