What is Angiography? What is Angiogram? What is Angioplasty?

What is Angiography? What is Angiogram? What is Angioplasty?

Angiogram is an imaging investigation. Angiography was first developed by two Portuguese doctors. It uses a dye to visualize the lumen of blood vessels and identify obstructions. According to the indication, the ports of entry differ. Common ports of entry are femoral artery, femoral vein, or jugular vein. Entry through the femoral artery helps visualize the left side of the heart and the system of arteries. Entry through the femoral vein or jugular vein helps visualize the venous system and the right side of the heart. Using catheters and guide wires, the dye is injected selectively into these arteries or branches.

What is Angioplasty?

Angioplasty involves widening narrowed arteries mechanically. Angioplasty was first described by a US interventional radiologist in 1964. The balloon catheter currently used all over the world in angioplasty was invented by Henry Lundquist. Angioplasty Procedure: During angioplasty, the vascular surgeon introduces a collapsed balloon along a guide wire to the blocked location. Then he pumps up the balloon with water to a fixed size. A stent may or may not be inserted to keep the artery open. Dilating blood vessels with a balloon can only be done for blocks away from branching points. For blocks at branching points, by pass would be a better option.

Angina And Myocardial Infarction

Angina

Angina pectoris refers to a situation where a person feels pain or uncomfortable sensation in his chest. It takes place when part of the heart does not receive enough oxygen because of either blocked arteries or some disease in coronary arteries. Angina lasts for a few minutes only and as soon as the blood supply to the heart is normalized, the person gets relief and he is back to normal. Angina is of two types, the stable one and the unstable one. It is the unstable angina that can lead to Myocardial Infarction.

Myocardial Infarction

MI is also called heart attack in common parlance and normally occurs when coronary artery is blocked as plaque surrounding arteries gets ruptured. This plaque is an unstable collection of fatty acids on the wall of the artery. The lack of blood supply and oxygen results in death of heart muscle tissue. In medical terms this death of muscle tissue is called infarction.

Cardiac Arrest vs Heart Attack

Cardiac arrest and heart attack are two different entities. However both are serious medical emergencies. A Lot of people used to confuse with the meaning of cardiac arrest and heart attack.

Cardiac arrest is also known as circulatory arrest. In cardiac arrest the blood does not pump out of the heart and thus arrest the blood circulation. Heart attack (myocardial infarction) is a cause of cardiac arrest. In heart attack the blood supply to the heart muscles is impaired. This results in lack of oxygen supply to the cardiac muscles. Heart muscle will die if there are no supply of oxygen and fuel for it’s function. Usually heart attack is caused by block in the coronary arteries. Coronary arteries are the vessels that supply the blood to the heart. High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart attack. Cholesterol deposition in the vessel will block the blood supply. The family history of heart attack is associated with increased risk of developing heart attack. Diabetes mellitus, smoking, obesity and lack of exercise also increase the risk of heart attack.

Heart attack can be mild to severe. Depending on the amount of the cardiac muscle and the site of the muscle death, the out come may vary. If the heart attack is severe, immediate death results. Myocardial infarction (heart attack) presents as severe tightening pain in the chest. It may be associated with sweating. If the heart attack is severe it causes cardiac arrest.

As muscles of the heart is damaged by heart attack, measuring the troponin level (marker) in the blood will help to diagnose it. The ECG changes will show if there is ischemia (lack of blood supply) to the muscles.

Mild attack will not kill the person. However there are more risk of developing further attack. Cardiac arrest is caused by various conditions. Myocardial infarction is one of the major cause. Lack of oxygen supply (ex drowning), severe cold (hypothermia), inadequate blood in the body (hypo volumia), increase acidity in the blood, increased or decreased potassium level in the blood, the drugs poison to the heart, failure of respiration, severe electricution are some of the causes for cardiac arrest.

Usually cardiac arrest is confirmed by the absence of carotid artery pulse. The cardiac arrest can be reversed if it is diagnosed early and treated appropriatly. The CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) will reverse the arrest if other causes of the cardiac arrest are corrected. CPR can be done by a person who is trained for CPR.