CT Angiogram
CT angiography is a type of medical test that combines a CT scan with an injection of a special dye to produce pictures of blood vessels and tissues in a part of your body. The dye is injected through an intravenous (IV) line started in your arm or hand.
A computerized tomography scan, or CT scan, is a type of X-ray that uses a computer to make cross-sectional images of your body. The dye injected to perform CT angiography is called a contrast material because it “lights up” blood vessels and tissues that are being studied.
The procedure is non-invasive and doesn’t require recovery time.
Why might you need computed tomography angiography?
You may need this medical test if you have an abnormality that involves the blood vessels of your brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, or other parts of your body.
- To find an aneurysm (a blood vessel that has become enlarged and may be in danger of rupturing)
- To find blood vessels that have become narrowed by atherosclerosis (fatty material that forms plaques in the walls of arteries)
- To find abnormal blood vessel formations inside your brain
- To identify blood vessels damaged by injury
- To find blood clots that may have formed in your leg veins and travelled into your lungs.
- To evaluate a tumor that is fed by blood vessels