Arteriography

Arteriography is the gold standard for diagnosis of an arterial lesion such as an aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation. Retrograde catheterization of the cerebral vessels is performed through the femoral artery. However, there is a small risk of serious neurologic and vascular complications (1%–2%) because the technique requires installation of a catheter and injection of radiopaque dye into the arterial system; thus, the test is reserved for patients with a high probability of having a lesion.

Visualization can be maximized by the use of selective injection into the internal and external carotid arteries, magnification to allow viewing of the smaller-caliber vessels, and subtraction techniques to radiographically eliminate bone. An additional benefit of arteriography is the ability to simultaneously diagnose and embolize lesions using various glues and coils.

Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 10 - Glaucoma. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.