X-ray examination of blood vessels

At present, almost all blood vessels (angio- or angiography) are available on live x-rays. The clinic uses various methods of X-ray examination of vessels filled with a radiopaque substance: examination of vessels (angiography), arteries (arteriography), heart and main arteries (angiocardiography), veins (phlebography) and lymphatic vessels (lymphography). In various types of aortography (injection of radiopaque substances, etc.), the aorta can be traced along its entire length and in all its parts: ascending, arc, thoracic and abdominal – with large arteries of the abdominal cavity: splenic, renal, etc. leaving it.

In the left (nipple) oblique position, all parts of the aorta are visible: ascending, arch and descending – to the diaphragm. Bright oval space, limited in front by the shadow of the heart, and above and behind – by the aorta (retrocardial pulmonary field) is called the aortic window. This “window” is narrow or wide, depending on the shape of the chest, the height of the standing of the diaphragm and the position of the heart. In people with a wide and short rib cage, with a high standing of the diaphragm with a horizontal position of the heart, there is a high standing and “unfolded” type of aorta. In this case, both knees of the aorta (ascending and descending) are more distant from each other: the “aortic window” is extended, the aortic arch is relatively straight. In people with a narrow and long rib cage and low standing of the diaphragm with the vertical position of the heart, inverse ratios are observed.

Using an injection of a contrast agent in the abdominal aorta, an image of the abdominal aorta, pars abdominalis aortae, is obtained. Also visible is its bifurcation and the course of both common iliac arteries and their large branches. In the living, due to the intravital tone and mobility of neighboring organs, the abdominal part of the aorta may shift slightly to the right and slightly arcuately bulge to the right, which can be mistaken for pathology, such as pushing the aorta with a tumor.

An x-ray examination of the remaining blood vessels of a living person by injecting (injecting) directly into the vessels of contrasting substances with simultaneous x-rays at the time of injection is called angiography.

When injected into the carotid artery, the common carotid artery is examined, dividing it into the external and internal carotid arteries and branching them in the head and brain (arterial encephalography, or brain angiography).

Introducing contrast agents into the brachial or femoral artery receive the image of large arterial trunks of limbs and their branches.

Selective (selective) arteriography of the arteries of the abdominal cavity allows studying the celiac trunk, mesenteric, renal arteries and their branches. At the same time, the entry of arteries into the gates of organs, in particular the spleen, liver and kidneys, is clearly noticeable. During radiography of the arteries of the parenchymatous organs, not only extraorgan vessels, but also intraorgan vessels are visible.

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