What is a cerebral angiogram?
In this video, Dr. Karimi, a seasoned neurosurgeon, provides a detailed and accessible explanation of cerebral angiograms. As viewers delve into the realm of neuroimaging, Dr. Karimi breaks down the intricacies of this diagnostic procedure, shedding light on its significance in diagnosing and treating various neurological conditions.
Learn more about Cerebral Angiogram
A cerebral angiogram is a very common procedure which involves inserting a small catheter into the arteries of the leg or the arm in order to inject contrast dye into the blood vessels and to map out all the arteries and veins of the head and neck.
Angiograms are the gold standard test to look at the blood vessels of the head and neck.
There are other tests such as an MRA MR Angiogram or a CT which is a CAT scan anagram that give a lot of detail but none give the detail and clarity that a formal cerebral angiogram will give.
We can see down to the submillimeter level any irregularities that are present in terms of the shape of the arteries, the blood flow patterns, any aneurysms or arteriovenous malformations or even blockages of the normal blood vessels.
The angiogram is a dynamic test so compared to a MRI or a CAT scan which is really just a picture over time an angiogram is more like a movie where you can watch the blood flow all the way up the major arteries down into the smaller arteries and finally into the venous system into the veins and out of the brain down to the neck.
So, an angiogram gives you that dynamic information that a MRI and a CTA cannot give you.
Typically it’s done in the morning and the patients can expect to go home by the early afternoon.
It’s minimally invasive and it does have a very low risk under 1% in most patients.
The procedure is typically done with contrasedation just a twilight sleep to keep the patient comfortable and typically takes under 45 minutes in order to map all the blood vessels of the brain.
A cerebral angiogram is a fairly straightforward procedure that doesn’t involve much discomfort at all.
Typically we numb the skin over the artery that we’re going to place the catheter.
That’s typically the only part the patient can feel.
When contrast is injected into the arteries, patients often describe a sensation of heat in the head, neck or the face that lasts for about 5 seconds and then quickly dissipates.
It’s not typically uncomfortable for a patient to have an angiogram especially if they’re under twilight sleep and in many cases by the time we’re done with the angiogram and we wake the patient up to make sure they’re doing okay they’re surprised that we’re done with the angiogram because they felt so little.
