angiography

A procedure used to x-ray blood vessels. A contrast medium is injected into the blood vessels to make them show up clearly on the x-ray image.

Doctors use angiography to see how blood flows through different organs and structures, including the brain (cerebral angiography), heart (coronary angiography) and lungs (pulmonary angiography). It helps them find out if blood vessels are diseased, narrowed or blocked.

The x-ray image produced is called an angiogram.

Also called arteriography.