lung and airway disorders
Chest Imaging
Pulmonary Artery Angiography
Pulmonary artery angiography (also called pulmonary artery arteriography) is done by injecting a radiopaque contrast agent directly into the pulmonary artery through a long, thin plastic tube (catheter) passed through a vein, into the heart and then into the pulmonary artery. After the contrast agent is injected, doctors use conventional x-rays to view the contrast agent in the lungs ( Angiography ). Angiography has traditionally been used most often when blood clots in the lungs ( Pulmonary Embolism (PE) ) was suspected, usually on the basis of abnormal lung scan results, and is still considered the most accurate test for diagnosing or excluding pulmonary embolism. However, angiography of the pulmonary arteries is usually done instead with PET scans are often combined with Computed Tomography (CT) of the Chest to provide two different methods to visualize lung tumors. 