Diagnostic Angiography

Imaging technology is used to visualise blood vessels and diagnose conditions such as blockages or aneurysms.

Angiography is performed to evaluate how healthy blood vessels are and how well blood flows through them. This method can help diagnose many problems that affect blood vessels, such as:

Atherosclerosis: It refers to the narrowing of the arteries, which is often a risk factor for heart attack or stroke.
Peripheral arterial disease: It is marked by decreased blood supply to the leg muscles.
Angina: It refers to chest pain due to decreased blood flow to the heart muscles.
Brain aneurysm: It refers to a bulge in a blood vessel in the brain.
Pulmonary embolism: Also called blood clots, it is a blockage in the artery that supplies blood to the lungs.
Blocked blood supply to the kidneys.

Angioplasty and Stenting

Procedures to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels and improve blood flow.

Coronary angioplasty helps open clogged blood vessels in the heart. This procedure treats vessels known as coronary arteries, which supply heart muscles with blood. A catheter (a small balloon on a narrow tube) is used to improve blood flow by widening a blocked artery.

Usually, after this procedure, a stent (a small wire mesh tube) is inserted. The stent helps open the artery and reduces the chance of it narrowing again. For this purpose, the stents are often coated with medicine.

Angioplasty and stenting can even be used as an emergency treatment in cases of heart attacks.

Embolisation

Blocking blood flow to tumours or abnormal blood vessels is often used to treat bleeding or shrink tumours.

This method uses embolic agents, which are tiny objects or particles, to obstruct blood flow. The doctor delivers these particles using a catheter. It is inserted into the skin through a puncture and follows the blood vessel’s path to the treatment area. Devices placed at the catheter’s tip make it possible to perform the procedure.

An interventional radiologist carries out this procedure. The professional uses catheters and real-time image-guided treatment to navigate the blood vessels in the body and perform tests and treatments.

Thrombolysis

Dissolving blood clots using medications delivered through a catheter, typically used to treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism.

This method uses a minimally invasive procedure or medication to dissolve existing blood clots and prevent new ones from being formed. Thrombolysis helps treat blood clots that lead to or are a result of:

Atherosclerosis (hardened or narrowed arteries)
Deep vein thrombosis
Coronary artery disease
Heart attack
Stroke
Pulmonary embolism

There are two types of thrombolysis as follows:

Systematic thrombolysis: This procedure uses thrombolytic medications that circulate throughout the body to break up clots and prevent future ones.
Catheter-directed thrombolysis: In this method, an endovascular approach is used to reach blood clots and break them down. After that, special tools or medication are used to eliminate the clots.

Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA)

Using heat generated by radio waves to destroy tumours or abnormal tissue.

It is a minimally invasive procedure used to reduce the size of nodules, tumours, and other bodily growths. This procedure helps treat various conditions, such as chronic neck and back pain, chronic venous insufficiency in the legs, and malignant and benign tumours.

The procedure in RFA is like a fine needle biopsy and requires a needle-like probe to be inserted into the body. The probe sends radiofrequency waves into the surrounding tissue, which causes the nearby cells to die. As that happens, the immune system keeps removing them. This leads to an internal reaction, after which the nodule usually shrinks.

Percutaneous Biopsy

This uses imaging guidance to obtain tissue samples for diagnosis.

Image-guided treatment methods such as ultrasound and CT scan can be used to carry out fine needle punctures into various parts of the abdomen to obtain samples for evaluation. This technique is known as percutaneous biopsy. Small needles are used in this method. However, the sample is large enough to carry out a proper diagnosis in most cases, which is a great benefit over a traditional (open) surgical biopsy.

There are mainly two types of percutaneous biopsies as follows:

Fine needle aspiration: It is a less invasive modality in which the cells are used for diagnosis.
Core biopsies: These are punctures created using slightly larger needles to get a larger sample, which can generally be relied on more.

Venous Access Procedures

Placing catheters or ports for long-term medication administration or blood draws.

In radiology treatments, venous access refers to central venous access, which involves the insertion of a catheter into a central vein. The large veins within the abdomen and chest are the central veins.

In this method, a catheter’s tip is generally placed within the superior vena cava, a large vein within the right atrium or above the heart.

A small cut is made in the skin, generally in the mid-upper arm for PICC lines or at the neck’s base for other catheters, using guided ultrasound imaging. Next, a needle is inserted into the underlying vein through the small incision. After accessing the vein, X-ray images are used to guide different small plastic sheaths and specialised flexible wires, followed by the venous access catheter itself via the needle puncture site.

Narayana Health houses a team of experts who perform interventional and endovascular radiology with high qualifications, relevant skills and years of experience. We use state-of-the-art technology to make our treatment processes both advanced and safe. Our doctors carry out diagnoses and radiology treatments and educate patients about the need for these treatments and things to do during the recovery period.

Interventional & Endovascular Radiology