Angiography This is a very useful way to study the blood vessels in a specific area of the body. Angiography is sometimes used to diagnose and precisely locate tumors in the pancreas, liver and brain, especially when surgery is being considered.
Angiography is also used in some chemotherapy treatments, when a plastic tube (catheter) is placed in an artery to deliver anticancer drugs to the tumor. It is especially important in those cases to know the exact size of the tumor to make sure all of it is treated. It makes no sense to insert the catheters and then miss a portion of the tumor not supplied by the blood vessel being used. Angiograms safeguard against this problem by defining the blood vessels within the tumor, which have a different quality and appearance than the arteries next to the tumor.
CT Scans For the past several years, computerized tomography (CT) scans have made it possible to see parts of the body that are difficult or impossible to view any other way. The images produced are far superior to those obtained by traditional x-rays. And the images are even clearer if you drink a contrast agent or get an injection before the scan is done.
The CT machine scans the area being investigated—chest, brain, abdomen or any other part of the body—by taking x-rays of one thin layer of tissue after another. A computer puts the images together to create a cross-section of the area. Total body scans are also done.
Although there is higher x-ray exposure with CT scans than with conventional x-rays, not undergoing the
