Angiogram of the Lung- Information, reasons and procedure to conduct Angiogram of the Lung

An angiogram of the lung is a procedure in which the circulation of the lung is x-rayed from different angles. Though normal lung x-rays also exist, x-rays can only take images of tissue that are dense enough to absorb this spectrum of radiation. Therefore, in a normal chest x ray, you would end up seeing the ribs and any calcifications or fibroid tissue in the lungs. However, if there was a problem regarding the circulation of blood in the lungs, there is no way that a normal x-ray would catch it. A typical problem like this is a pulmonary embolism. An embolism is a bit of particulate matter that travels from one part of the body to another. In Deep Vein Thrombosis or DVT, this is what kills people. A bit of the clot that has formed in the legs getting dislodged, traveling to the lungs, and then blocking the blood circulation there, effectively killing the patient. Therefore a method known as an angiogram is used. There are two types of pulmonary or lung angiograms that are used: a CTA pulmonary angiogram and an MR pulmonary angiogram. The difference between these two is in their technique.

Procedure to carry out Angiogram of the Lung

An angiogram is normally done by puncturing an artery, like the femoral artery in the thigh for heart angiograms, and sending a tube to the organ which needs investigation. A dye is then injected that is a contrasting agent. This will show up opaque on an x ray. When the injection of the contrasting agent is made, the x ray is immediately taken; sometimes as fast as 15 frames a second. This will then give a time lapse picture of the flow of blood into the organ and any abnormalities associated with it. A CT pulmonary angiogram follows the same logic except for the fact that a tube doesn’t have to be stuck up the patient’s thigh. Instead, an injection is given that contains the contrasting agent and in an x-ray, a whole section can be lit up to view. Additionally, the x ray is taken from many angles giving a three dimensional view to a doctor.

MR or Magnetic Resonance pulmonary angiograms use magnetic resonance to do the very same thing as a CT angiogram. The only difference here is that X rays are not used by the image of magnetic resonance is used instead. This is crucial when dealing with pulmonary angiograms because the level of radiation exposure caused otherwise can be abnormally and this is clearly the better method