Angioplasty Procedure Explanation

Angioplasty is the procedure of utilizing a balloon to stretch and widen an artery that has become narrowed or blocked, and it is a well-established treatment for coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart attacks (acute coronary syndrome).

Coronary angioplasty is a medical intervention employed to expand coronary arteries, the main blood vessels responsible for supplying the heart. By undergoing angioplasty, the blood flow through these arteries is enhanced.

Typically, a coronary angioplasty procedure takes around 30 minutes to 2 hours, although there are instances where it may take longer. During the procedure, a surgeon inserts a tube into an artery situated in the groin or wrist. The tube is then guided towards the affected artery near the heart. Subsequently, a balloon is introduced to open up the artery. In many cases, angioplasty is performed in conjunction with the placement of a stent, a small tube made of wire mesh. The stent plays a role in supporting the opened artery, thereby decreasing the chances of it narrowing again.

These procedures are commonly carried out in a cardiovascular catheterization laboratory, often referred to as a "cath lab," while the patient is under conscious or moderate sedation. Since the procedure involves a small puncture in the skin, there is no need for sutures or stitches.
Angioplasty Procedure Explanation

Cerebral arteriography

In 1926 Portuguese physician Caetano de Egas Moniz invented cerebral arteriography, x-ray of the skull after introducing a contrast medium into both carotid and arteries.

Egas mounted his camera in the ‘radio-carousel’ invented by his colleague Jose Pereira Caldas to get a large series of angiograms in rapid succession. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1949 for developing the first psychosurgery procedure.

Cerebral arteriography or angiography is a procedure by which the intracranial and extracranial head and neck circulation is evaluated.

It entails the placement of a catheter selectively into extracranial cerebral vessels using fluoroscopic guidance followed by contrast injection and image acquisition to delineate anatomy and abnormalities.

Conventional cerebral angiography is recommended for all patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, expect for those older than 45 years with pre-existing hypertension in thalamic, putaminal or posterior fossa hemorrhage. Cerebral angiography can detect arterial and venous stenosis, vascular malformations or tumors.
Cerebral arteriography